Chapter 4: Beverages in Food Business

The beverage sector in India is one of the fastest growing sectors that encompass both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The Ministry of Food Processing Industry in India has estimated that the production of alcoholic beverages has progressively increased by around 23.8% in the period between 2015 and 2019. Also, the alcoholic beverages sector contributes to about 1.5 million jobs in the country, and with regard to sales revenue in the year 2019, the total amount generated was USD 48.8 billion. The industry is largely open to foreign direct investment and several states like Maharashtra and Karnataka lend their support for local manufacturing (Mukherjee et al., 2021). Factors like fast urbanization, transforming lifestyle and consumer preferences, and a growing disposable income with increased purchasing power have played an important role in the demand for alcoholic beverages.