What you need to know about exporting to India

Indian Business Challenges

One sector that has persisted in India despite a number of obstacles is the wine industry. Ali Hogarth, regional manager for emerging markets at the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) says that the country’s strict import duties pose the biggest problem. “That’s a big issue and not just an Australian one; taxes can be as high as 260 percent. Until that is reduced significantly, India will always be a smaller market for imported wine.”

Add the fact that India does not have the infrastructure to support a wine culture, lacking suitable storage and refrigerated road transport, and one starts to wonder why the industry persists. Hogarth says mostly it’s the size of the population, but she also points to shifts in the culture that indicate growth.

“Youth are really driving the economy and will be the future for imported wine,” she says. “It’s also becoming more acceptable for women to drink alcohol and more importantly, wine. Wine is preferable because it’s healthier and it’s considered a better option for women to consume, so women are also the drivers of growth.”

Part of the AWBC’s India strategy is wine education, targeting international students with their Introduction to Wine and Wine Services course in Australia and working with five star hotels in India to increase their on premise presence.

Hogarth is also hopeful that India’s domestic wine industry takes off. “It means that wine becomes a more integrated part of society, so there’s more wine courses, sommelier schools, hospitality schools. It increases education across the board, which is a good thing.”

Other industries should take note of label Howling Wolves’ approach. “They’re one of the most successful Australian wine companies in India because they support the market very well, they visit several times a year constantly promoting and running dinners, tastings and events,” says Hogarth. “They have a very close relationship with their importer as well and it’s been a real success story.”

She concludes that India’s not a place to make a quick buck. “If India is a market that a winery chooses to export to, they need to be 100 percent committed to developing and growing with the market. They’ll probably start off small and grow as the market grows but the market will require a lot of commitment, a lot of time.”

Launching a Business in India

The adage about launching a product in India is that you need either a Bollywood star or a cricketer to make the media pay attention. This is true, as actress Tania Zaetta and cricketer Brett Lee found when they started to look closely at India.

Zaetta gained fame as the action reporter in TV show Who Dares Wins alongside host Mike Whitney, incidentally a former cricketer. Such was the popularity of the show in India that they filmed specials using Indian contestants.

Since then, Zaetta has worked to build her profile on the subcontinent, immersing herself in the culture and understanding how both the film industry and the business world worked. This made her savvy, leading to better career moves.

“Because there were huge mobs of people wherever we went, I was literally hotel-bound. All I could do was watch TV, listen to the radio and read the papers so I became an expert on Bollywood,” she recalls of the early days. “Then one journalist said ‘would you ever like to do Bollywood?’ and I said ‘absolutely’. The cover of the Bombay Times the next day read: ‘Tania wants Bollywood’. After that I got the call, but it was for the dance numbers. I knew well enough not to do that and wait for the right acting role.”

Two high profile movies—Bunty Aur Babli and Salaam Namaste—launched her into Bollywood stardom and Zaetta the businesswoman emerged. She is now an advocate for doing business in India and speaks at business events about how companies can enter the Indian market.

“I’ve known businesses that have gone into India, struggled and gone home with their tail between their legs, reassessed the situation and then realised that they need Indian partners or that they need to understand more about the Indian culture, the way that Indian business works,” says Zaetta. “You cannot waltz in there and think that just because you’re a foreigner you can take over because they won’t accept you, they’ll shut you down.”

Zaetta recommends that businesses spend time getting to know the Indian market and culture because strategies that work elsewhere don’t necessarily cut it in India. She also advises a price check. “[Businesses] do have to alter their price point because it’s a third world country,” she says, pointing out that the low price of a movie ticket contributes to the film industry’s success. “It costs 100 rupees to go to the movies, which is the equivalent of $2.80 Australian. That’s why Bollywood is so big, it’s a fantasy world and even the rickshaw drivers and the maids can find 100 rupees.”