One of the biggest spirits sellers in India’s global travel retail channel has rebranded – part of a strategy to expand into overseas markets and develop a geographically-diversified footprint. In the meantime, the company is enjoying record spirits sales in its home market.
In March, Mumbai Travel Retail – an umbrella business encompassing GTR operations at seven airports in India – became Ospree. The term derives from the words ‘osprey’, the migratory bird of prey that has adapted to living on almost all continents, and ‘spree’, as in ‘shopping spree’. Ospree is overseen by a joint venture comprising Indian infrastructure group Adani, controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, and Flemingo Travel Retail, a GTR operator with 137 outlets in 26 countries.
According to CEO Avishek Bambii Das (below), a former senior executive at Pernod Ricard India and Diageo in South-East Asia, the new name will have more appeal and credibility in channel and will be easier for potential concession partners to understand than Mumbai Travel Retail.
Earlier this year, the operator opened its first duty-free outlet outside India in Calais, France, through a concession with Eurotunnel, following an open tender process that commenced in September last year. The 800sqm store is in the passenger terminal, with another 75sqm in the freight terminal dedicated, for the first time, to lorry drivers. With the post-Brexit return of duty-free shopping between the EU and the UK, wine and spirits will be a key category.
Exporting spirits know-how
Over the years, Ospree has expanded its spirits operations. On its home turf, driven by domestic consumers’ strong appetite for Scotch whisky, the company’s flagship outlet in Mumbai has one of the largest single malt collections of any GTR location in the world, with more than 250 malts available.
Other categories are also surging, according to Das. “Tequila is new for us, launched just six months ago,” he says. “(Diageo’s) Don Julio 1942, has already become one of our top three [SKUs]. It’s number one in departures – we’re shell-shocked.”
Despite its high price at around US$225, the brand has been flying off Ospree’s shelves, which the CEO puts down to “fantastic activations”, including one featuring a live DJ, and tastings – a relatively novel marketing approach for spirits in Indian airports. Jugglers, magicians and flautists are other engagement tactics used by the company to draw the attention of travellers. “All of this ensured that our penetration went up significantly, so much so that sales in departures have grown by 66%, almost three times passenger growth,” says Das. The activity has also helped to change the ratio of departures and arrivals sales from 30/70 to 40/60. The eventual aim is to reach 50/50.
Middle-class Indians with high disposable incomes are now so well-travelled globally that they are picking up on the spirits trends in the likes of New York and London, which is one reason why tequila is skyrocketing.
Other recent high-end arrivals include Clase Azul and Patrón El Cielo from Bacardí, with Avión Reserva Cristalino and mezcals coming soon. “Tequila today is no longer an alcoholic beverage,” says Das. “It’s a lifestyle statement.”
Zero to 7% in just six months
Currently, 34% of the alcohol sold by Ospree’s Mumbai outlet is single malt, which is growing at 55% year on year, helped by regular promotions. Not that long ago, the category used to have a share of 25%.
On its own, however, Don Julio now commands 7% of the store’s alcohol sales, making the location the fastest-growing in the world in GTR. “I believe the tequila wave will be around for at least a decade-and-a-half,” Das predicts.
“The other category that’s on fire is Japanese whisky, with phenomenal support from Suntory Global Spirits,” he adds. “We have fantastic displays in both departures and arrivals and the category is growing by more than 100% currently.” While the volumes may be smaller, the demand for high-end Japanese brands such as Yamazaki is consistently strong.
Sales per passenger at Mumbai Duty Free “are the highest ever”, according to Das. In fiscal 2023, to the end of March last year, traffic doubled to almost 44m at the air gateway to India’s richest city.
While the rate of growth has since moderated, the Ospree rebrand, coupled with the insatiable demand for high-end spirits, will likely take India’s GTR sales to even greater heights.
