Isle of Barra lands India deal

Spirits producer Isle of Barra Distillers has signed a deal with distributor Oberoi Spirits to bring its products to India.

Oberoi Spirits will distribute the brand’s Barra Atlantic Gin, Island Dark Rum and Hebridean Vodka across eight states in India, including Haryana, Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Punjab and Chandigarh.

The financial sum of the deal has not been disclosed, but is said to be worth six figures.

Michael Morrison, managing director and co-founder at the Isle of Barra Distillers, said: “We are, of course, delighted with this news. The Indian market has been a target of ours for some time, but we wanted to make sure we [matched] our goals to the right partners and we feel Manveer and the team at HS Oberoi Spirits are exactly that.

“Our story and brand was something they felt would work well in the Indian market and we are excited to start working with them. This news comes shortly after we announced a deal with our partners in Italy and, with export our main focus for 2024, we are off to the start we hoped – but there is much more to come.”

India is becoming one of the world’s largest markets for spirits. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the region will be a key volume growth market for total beverage alcohol from 2022 to 2027.

Moving into the Indian market means Isle of Barra Distillers will need to increase production by 50%, which the brand said will, in turn, create both employment and expansion opportunities.

Manveer Singh Oberoi, founder of HS Oberoi Spirits India, said: “We are very thrilled to take forward our partnership with the Isle of Barra Distillers and bring its award-winning spirits into the Indian market.

“We will be starting with six states initially, but we have a roadmap to reach 15 to 20 states in the next three to five years. India is evolving both socially and economically. The youth have more disposable income than the previous generations and are happy to experiment with new types of alcohol.

“In fact, as per latest surveys, alcohol consumption in India is set to rise from 5 billion litres in 2020 to 6.4 billion litres in 2024, [with] a 7% annual increase in alcohol spend. So this partnership with Michael and his team at Isle of Barra Distillers could not have come at a more exciting time.”

At the end of 2022, Isle of Barra Distillers secured planning permission to build a £12 million (US$14.6m) whisky and gin distillery in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.

The brand’s Isle of Barra Gin also won a Master medal at The Design & Packaging Masters 2023 – the competition’s most coveted award.