Som Distilleries & Breweries is one of India’s fastest-growing beer companies and the only publicly listed player that makes both beer and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) under one roof - a dual-engine model designed to smooth out the seasonal swings of beer demand. Founded in 1993 by J.K. Arora in Bhopal, it has spent three decades evolving from a regional brewer into a pan-India alcobev house with three millionaire beer brands and a growing premium spirits portfolio. The recurring approach is simple: build a wide distribution network in semi-urban and rural India, launch brands that match local tastes and price points, and use the beer business’s scale to fund an expanding IMFL line-up - then repeat the playbook state by state. # Business segments Two engines under one roof - a dominant beer business that provides the bulk of volume and revenue, and a fast-growing IMFL business that adds margin and year-round stability - both sold through the same state-regulated distribution networks. ## 1. Beer: the volume engine that pays the bills **Four millionaire brands, three owned plants and one greenfield site under construction, and a distribution playbook that wins by being available at every retail point in a state - beer is the business.** - **The portfolio is built for Indian tastes** - close to 85% of the Indian beer market is strong beer, so the company’s top sellers (Power Cool, Hunter, Black Fort) are all strong or super-strong lagers, with alcohol content between 6% and 8%. Hunter alone sold over 50 lakh cases in FY26, and Power Cool sold over 77 lakh cases, making them genuine mass-market brands. - **Distribution width is the moat** - because direct product advertising is banned in India, the company competes by covering all point-of-sale retailers in a state, supported by a sales force that ensures retailers are stocked and that scheme payouts arrive on time. It also places its own coolers in shops and cold rooms in walk-in channels so the beer is served cold - a practical advantage in a hot-climate market. - **Manufacturing is multi-state and still expanding** - three owned plants in Bhopal, Hassan (Karnataka) and Odisha give a combined installed capacity of roughly 39 million cases per year, with the Karnataka and Odisha lines recently expanded. A fourth greenfield site in Uttar Pradesh, spread across 40 acres, has just begun commercial production and will add more than 12 million cases of annual bottling capacity, making it one of the largest single-location alcobev complexes in India. - **It wins markets one state at a time** - in Karnataka, Power Cool is the second most popular beer; in Jharkhand, the company holds a 22% market share and ranks second overall; in its home state of Madhya Pradesh, Hunter commands a 55% share of the premium beer segment. The entry playbook is consistent: launch with a lower-priced product to generate trial, then build distribution width until the brand is everywhere. - **Contract manufacturing fills the plants** - a strategic tie-up with Carlsberg at the Odisha plant improves capacity utilisation, and the company also brews beer on contract for other brands like 7 Ink Brews, turning fixed-asset costs into a partial advantage. ## 2. Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL): the margin builder with year-round demand **A branded portfolio of whisky, rum, brandy, vodka and ready-to-drink products that grew volumes 32% in a single year - still small, but designed to offset beer’s summer dependence.** - **Whisky leads, because India drinks brown** - roughly 95% of Indian IMFL volumes are brown spirits (whisky, rum, brandy), so the portfolio is anchored by brands like Milestone Blue, Pentagon Gold Edition and the mid-premium Mahavat, a triple-distilled blend of Scotch malt and Indian grain spirits priced around Rs. 1,000-1,100. Vodka and RTD lines (White Fox, flavoured variants) round out the offering for younger consumers. - **It rides the same distribution rails as beer** - IMFL cases move through the same state-regulated excise networks, which means every new state entry for beer also opens a channel for spirits, creating marketing synergies and reducing the incremental cost of launching IMFL brands. - **Contract manufacturing works both ways** - just as SDBL brews beer for others, it also bottles IMFL for larger players. A contract manufacturing agreement with Radico Khaitan at the Hassan plant and bottling tie-ups for Canteen Store Department (CSD) supply bring in additional volumes and keep the IMFL lines running. - **The capacity is already in place** - total installed IMFL capacity across the three plants is about 5.1 million cases per year, with the new Uttar Pradesh greenfield site adding an integrated distillery unit, so the company can scale without building from scratch. # Group structure and partners **A listed parent with three manufacturing subsidiaries and a promoter entity that supplies a key raw material - the structure keeps each plant in its own legal box while the parent provides capital and guarantees.** - **Three plant-level subsidiaries** - Woodpecker Distilleries & Breweries Private Limited owns the Hassan plant (SDBL holds roughly 79%), Som Distilleries & Breweries Odisha Private Limited is the wholly owned Odisha vehicle, and Woodpecker Greenagri Nutrients Private Limited was acquired in late 2025 to develop the Uttar Pradesh greenfield project. - **The promoter supplies a critical input** - Som Distilleries Private Limited (SDPL), a promoter entity, sells extra neutral alcohol (ENA) to SDBL from a plant located very close to the company’s own facilities, creating a tight raw-material link. In early 2025, SDPL also injected Rs. 22.4 crore via a preferential share issue to fund working capital. - **Strategic partners fill capacity and open markets** - a tie-up with Carlsberg at the Odisha plant improves utilisation, while contract manufacturing agreements with Radico Khaitan (IMFL) and 7 Ink Brews (beer) turn competitors into customers and keep the lines busy.