Praveen Someshwar

DIAGEO India CEO Praveen Someshwar says the country is poised to become the world’s most important consumer market, with the company betting on premiumisation, innovation and double-digit growth. Read More: https://lnkd.in/du_Ka2ms #DiageoIndia #Diageo #PraveenSomeshwar

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Decisions Define Destiny Decisions are what carry us through the corridors of progress . We need to think about how to drive decisions with greater prescision , speed and commitment . 1. Greater precision through the filter of “highest value” decisions to drive outcomes . For example if margins are behind industry peers then a focus on margins ahead of growth would be drive greater SHV 2. Speed on reversibility of decisions - “one way “ or a “two way door” ? For decisions that are reversible or a “two way door” move FAST . For example launching a new plant based menu item . If it does not work you can easily pull it back 3. Commitment - build organsiational commitment through disagreement . Ask teams why this may be a bad idea , first then decide and MOVE forward as one team Finally job of a leader is to manage the consequences of decisions - by making more powerful decisions and so it goes ! What are your thoughts ?

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Loca Loka Tequila, the India-based alcoholic beverage company, has appointed Rohit Srinivasan as Head of Marketing to define its marketing roadmap, enhance brand identity, and fuel global expansion. Along with Srinivasan, Rajesh Israni joins as Head of Sales and Ritesh Singh as Supply Chain & Logistics Manager, strengthening the operational and commercial teams. Read the full story with the link in Comments. #IndustryUpdates #LeadershipAnnouncement #MarketingStrategy #LocaLoka

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India’s Growing Male Grooming Market: A Silent Revolution In the 1970s and 80s, men’s grooming in India was extremely limited. The category revolved around just a few essentials: Shaving cream Aftershave lotion Men’s talc That was all. The IT boom and global exposure fundamentally changed this mindset. Today, male grooming has been completely redefined. This is no longer about “fairness.” It is about: Natural appearance Clear, blemish-free skin Looking fresh despite stress and fatigue Fitness, confidence, and personal presentation By 2030, India’s men’s grooming market is expected to touch ₹25,000 crore—and this may still be a conservative estimate. Where the Growth Is Really Happening The new-age male consumer is open, experimental, and performance-driven. Key high-growth segments include: Face wash for acne & pimple control Energizing / fuel-based face washes Moisturizers and serums Sun protection creams Aftershave balms (comfort over sting) Hair-fixing and beard gels Tinted moisturizers – for even skin tone Tinted moisturizers – for a natural, “no-makeup” look Concealers – to hide blemishes and imperfections Clear brow gels – to tame unruly eyebrow hair “Fatigue sticks” – to erase signs of long working days In between, we’ve even seen beer-based shampoos for men—something unimaginable two decades ago. The Most Interesting Insight? Large traditional players are not leading this space. Surprisingly: HUL Park Avenue Nivea are not the innovators here. Instead, small Indian startups and foreign niche brands are driving the category—bringing: Speed Sharp consumer insight Premium pricing High margins One example: A fatigue stick priced at ₹580 for just 4.4 grams—yet selling. This tells us something critical: 👉 Value perception has overtaken volume obsession Why This Segment Is a Goldmine From a business perspective, this category is: Futuristic – aligned with changing male self-image Highly profitable – low grammage, high price points Sustainable – repeat usage, routine-driven consumption Channel dynamics: Modern trade & supermarkets dominate E-commerce is growing rapidly Daily-need adjacencies like: Razors Perfumes Soaps create cross-selling opportunities Final Thought (Most Important) This is not a branding game alone. Only companies that: Understand the male consumer deeply Create products that genuinely deliver on their promise Avoid gimmicks and build trust will succeed. Look around you. Men are changing. Their expectations are changing. Their grooming habits are changing

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A Defining Decade for Indian Whisky India becoming the world’s largest Scotch market isn’t just a trade milestone — it’s a symbol of how far our domestic palate and perception have evolved. When I started in this industry, Scotch was seen as the benchmark, the measure against which everything Indian was compared. Decades later, the conversation has changed. Today, Indian single malts and premium craft whiskies are winning international awards and commanding their own identity — not in imitation, but in confidence. The fact that the Scotch Whisky Association is now seeking partnerships with Indian producers says a lot about where we stand. It’s no longer just about importing Scotch; it’s about collaboration, co-creation, and learning from each other’s strengths. The India–UK Free Trade Agreement will certainly make this exchange easier — lower tariffs, better access, more diversity for consumers. But what excites me more is what this means for the Indian whisky story itself. We’ve moved from a market that consumed Scotch to one that now produces world-class whisky and exports it with pride. If the last few decades were about building scale, the next few will be about building stature. And that’s a far bigger challenge — one that will demand vision, quality, and a shared respect for craft on both sides of the glass. https://lnkd.in/dDGtjTtc

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Decoding the Bira Story — Part 7 The Final Pour When the froth finally settles, all that’s left in the glass is the truth. After tracking Bira’s journey from its loud 2015 launch to its glossy funding rounds, this year’s annual report lays bare what many in the alcobev industry have whispered for years — the numbers never matched the narrative. 🔹 From Hype to Hardship For years, Bira was projected as India’s breakout craft-beer success. But behind the cool monkey logo and Instagram campaigns lay a company gasping for liquidity. The FY 2023-24 report confirms it: Net worth –₹ 4,821 million. Debt ₹ 5,858 million (up 2× year-on-year). Net debt-to-equity not applicable — because there’s no equity left to compare against. That’s not a business in transition. That’s a business on life support. 🔹 The Directors Did Just Fine Even as losses deepened, the top brass kept drawing handsome remuneration. Mr Ankur Jain’s pay package excluded gratuity and leave benefits — on top of personal receivables of ₹ 1.9 million from the company. He and Mrs Shashi Jain pledged over 21 lakh personal shares to secure ₹ 2.2 billion of company borrowings. And yet, remuneration continued as if profitability were optional. How do you justify “rewarding” management while the company’s net worth turns negative? In most boardrooms, that’s called moral hazard. 🔹 Loans, Layers and Lapses The books show ₹ 1.17 billion lent to subsidiaries and another ₹ 161 million advanced to promoters and KMPs themselves — interest-bearing or not, conveniently undisclosed. Add to that over ₹ 1 billion in external commercial borrowings from Kirin Holdings, and you get the perfect recipe for dependency dressed up as “strategic support.” 🔹 The Ground Reality Talk to suppliers, distributors, or former employees — you’ll hear stories of delayed payments, shrinking sales, and morale at its lowest. The market buzz is clear: the brand that once symbolised urban cool has lost its fizz in both volumes and values. Meanwhile, management still sells hope — new flavours, new packaging, new geographies — without fixing the fundamentals that brewed this mess in the first place. ⚖️ The Final Pour Bira’s story isn’t about beer. It’s about a mindset — of believing that branding can replace business, that perception can outrun performance, and that money raised equals money earned. But when the investors sober up, the only thing left on the table is accountability. Because you can’t keep serving froth forever. Eventually, the glass empties — and the truth stares right back. This brings an end to the Bira Saga. I hope it’s been an eye-opener and food for thought for many. Such stories have many learnings and many un-learnings. The reason for doing this series was never to bring someone down, but to unravel the truth — and possibly show what not to do, rather than what to do. #DecodingBira #Bira91 #AlcoBevIndustry #BeerBusiness #InvestorAccountability #LeadershipLessons #FinancialReality #HardTruths

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MINTY JAMUN PUTS INDIA IN SMIRNOFF’S GLOBAL TOP FIVE India has entered Smirnoff’s global top five markets, powered by Minty Jamun, a flavour born and scaled locally. Despite policy challenges and fierce competition, DIAGEO India’s innovation-first strategy turned a Maharashtra-made idea into a global growth engine, proving India is no longer just participating—it is shaping the future. Read more via...https://lnkd.in/g3rh8Wyk #Smirnoff #MintyJamun #IndiaInTopFive #GlobalFlavourHit #LocalFlavourGlobalStage #SpiritsInnovation #MarketSuccess #IndiaDrinks #BrandMomentum #IndustryBuzz Mohit Cherian Hiren Dedhia Aparajita Mukherjee Prateek Thakker Ameya Saxena Oindri Mitra Ruchira Jaitly Praveen Someshwar , Jagbir Singh Sidhu Jitendra Mahajan Pradeep Jain Shilpa Vaid Shobhana Nikam Devashish Dasgupta Shivani Malhotra Abhilasha Meena Georgina Meddows-Smith Cristina Diezhandino Laura Pearce Aman Singh , Deepshikha Dubey, Varun Koorichh Suraj Jain , Shikha Sabharwal Creative Brands Conceptual Pictures Worldwide Pvt. Ltd. Pumpkin Production Smirnoff Ice SMIRNOFF LTD Nandini Anitha Nandakumar Sarah Shimmons Stephanie Jacoby Bhelekazi Ntshangase Sourav Das Abhishek Shahabadi Vikram Damodaran

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Pernod Ricard is set to sell its Imperial Blue whisky business to Tilaknagar Industries, pending regulatory approval. This move allows Pernod Ricard to concentrate on its premium, high-growth brands in India, such as Royal Stag and international labels like Chivas Regal. Tilaknagar Industries, primarily known for brandy, strategically enters the whisky market with this acquisition.

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