Mumbai: The Indian spirits and wine industry is facing a shortage of skilled marketing and sales people like its global counterparts. To meet this shortage globally the Bordeaux International Wine Institute (BIWI), part of the INSEEC group has now decided to train students for the spirits industry with its new MBA course in Spirits Marketing and Management which will start later this year.
Earlier in 2013/2014 they had hosted more than 300 students from 20 different nationalities including India.
“The spirits sector has a huge potential,” says Laurent Bergeruc, director of the MSc and the MBA at INSEEC Bordeaux.
“The worldwide turnover of the spirits industry is more than $300 billion, almost double than that of the wine industry. Companies, while recruiting, look for candidates who know this market and the requirements of the supply chain and trade marketing perfectly well. This new course is designed to meet the specific expectations of the sector and will be taught entirely in English by industry professionals.”
However Kapil Grover, chairman of Grover Zampa Vineyards Pvt Ltd says India has no special degree training courses and says they train people on the job.
Karishma Grover, associate wine maker adds “we have trained people but as we grow we will need a lot more trained people. The choices in wines is huge and complicated unlike say in whiskey.”
The wine industry produced around 1.5 million cases last year.
Clive Castelino of Charosa who heads the corporate sales team and also trains people, says there are basic courses conducted by the Wines And Spirits Education Trust and students who pass out are into sales and marketing.
There are various levels of courses. “Wine is more than a label. It may be made from the same grapes but would taste different depending on the country, weather, soil etc. There are various factors that change the dynamics of the product,” he says.
Mr Ajay Shetty, MD of Myra Wines, a comparatively new entrant says one can imagine the complexity of wines by the fact that even how you open the cork is important besides the smell and taste.
