'Please beer with us'

While tipplers prefer hard drinks in the winter, beer companies introduce free offers and holidays to counter 25% drop in sales

Winter is that time of the year when beer sales witness a drop of at least 25 per cent, as tipplers turn to hard drinks like whiskey, vodka and rum from November to February.

To counter the poor sales, beer companies and liquor store owners will soon introduce various promotional offers to attract buyers. The sale of beer in the city is approximately Rs 17 crore a month, which decreases by
Rs 5 crore during winters.

"Sales of hard drinks go up by 20-30 per cent, while the demand for beer goes down by 25 per cent," said Vijay Kutty, ex-president, Pune District Wine Traders Association. Last year, beer companies offered international holidays, heavy discounts and free offers, added Kutty.

Drop in sales
Chandrashekhar Kadam, a salesman at Friends Wine Merchant, Pimpri, said, "We have offers like buy two and get one free, but none really work, as sales drop the moment discounts are off."

Pankaj Soneja, owner of a liqour store in Shivaji Nagar, said that offers were gimmicks only to woo collegians.

"We give free offers because it works well with young people, as they get more beer with lesser money. Those who can afford are hardly bothered."

Neel Shah, owner of a nightclub in Koregaon Park, said, "We don't have any in- house offers, as companies come up with their own, including trips to Bangkok and other free offers. Kingfisher and Carlsberg will start their offers in a week's time."