From financialexpress.com
With ‘conscious’ consumers leaning towards quality, natural ingredients and exploring new flavours and techniques, mead—a gluten-free alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with various fruits, herbs and spices—is increasingly making its presence felt in India’s burgeoning liquor market.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating or, in this case, drinking. Moonshine Meadery, one of the few Indian brands offering mead, just celebrated its sixth anniversary, growing at approximately 80% year-on-year since its inception. Similarly, Nashik-based mead brand Cerana Meads is all set to close the financial year at nearly 200% in the top line compared to the previous year.
Even though the industry is still in its nascent stage in India, the size of the global mead market is projected to grow from $487.9 million in 2021 to $1.62 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 18.71%, as per a report by market research firm Fortune Business Insights.
What makes mead stand out from the crowd is the fact that it is a 100% natural and gluten-free beverage made without synthetic additives.
“Often referred to as the drink of the gods in Greek mythology, and prevalent in ancient cultures across the world, mead is actually the world’s oldest form of alcohol with references to its existence dating back to 6500 BC,” said Rohan Rehani, co-founder of Pune-based Moonshine Meadery.
Fermented alco-bevs such as wines are made by fermenting fruit, more commonly grapes, and beers by fermenting malted grains. “Meads use honey as the primary fermentation ingredient,” said Dr Yoginee Budhkar, co-founder and partner at Cerana Meads, adding that their meads are made using ethically sourced honey. “We don’t steal it from the bees, we only take what is in excess,” added Dr Ashwini Deore, Cerana Meads’ other co-founder and partner.
Cerana Meads offers meads in two verticals. One range of meads, called ‘hydromels’ are low-ABV, carbonated meads that come at a pocket-friendly cost of Rs 199 per 330 ml pint. The products in this category are Chenin Blanc Mead, Pomegranate Vanilla Mead, Jamun Mead and Bluepea Lavender Mead. “The second vertical is the standard mead which is in the range of 10-14% ABV. A half bottle (375 ml) of this category is priced at Rs 450 and a full bottle (750 ml) comes for Rs 810. The products in this category are Pinot Noir Mead and Yule Spic. These are currently available in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Nashik and Pune,” added Budhkar.
Moonshine Meadery, too, has a wide range of meads, starting with a ‘lite’ mead at 4.5% ABV—currently with Lemon Tea Mead as the only offering in this segment. “All our other meads are at 6.5% ABV. Our flagship meads—Apple Mead, Coffee Mead and Traditional Mead—are available throughout the year. We also make limited edition/small batch meads in small quantities throughout the year, which we call ‘MeadLABs’. Guava Chilli Mead, Grilled Pineapple Mead and Salted Kokum Mead are some MeadLABs that have gained a lot of popularity,” added Rehani.
With diversity in flavours and the sustainability factor—since the main ingredient is a by-product, mead has a remarkably low carbon and water usage footprint compared to other alcoholic beverages—meads are primarily attracting the young and conscious drinkers. “As alcohol consumption is a matter of familiarity and habit, right now, the most likely age group to be interested in meads is the new LDA (legal drinking age) group, consumers who are in their mid-20s,” said Deore of Cerana Meads.
For Moonshine Meadery, “anyone in the age range of 25-45 years looking for a flavourful drink is our consumer base essentially”, as per Rehani. “We are trying to plug the flavour gap for consumers as they transition from juices and colas to beers and spirits. A consumer’s journey into alcohol doesn’t have to start with an ‘acquired taste’. This fits well with the expectations of the younger India who are looking for more flavourful beverages,” he added.
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