Amarula goes to Bollywood

Distell’s director for international operations, Donald Gallow

Maharashta's capital is Mumbai, India's foremost business, movie, retail and tourist centre, while the state's city of Pune is a hub of academia and business, and supports a range of top-flight hotels and restaurants. Bangalore in Karnataka is India's IT capital and arguably its most modern city.

“In line with the goal to extend our global footprint, we decided to launch Amarula, with its strong South African identity, in India at a time of strengthening economic, travel and cultural ties between our two countries,” said Distell's director for international operations, Donald Gallow.

Burgeoning economy

India's economic transformation has been widely documented and despite the current downturn and a global contraction in consumer spending, is recording growth ahead of the developed countries. McKinsey & Company has put the size of the country's middle class at over 50 million people and has projected it to swell more than tenfold to 583 million by 2025. While India is presently the world's 12th-largest consumer economy, within the next 15 years it is expected to move to fifth place, according to McKinsey's researchers.

“Even if it can be argued that these projections, made during the economic boom, might be considered too optimistic in the current climate, there can be no doubt that the sheer size of India and its economic force offer excellent potential to producers of luxury goods,” Gallow said.