Bira's Rebranding Issues: Losing INR 80 Crores After Dropping "Private"

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

19 Feb 2025 — 2 min read

Bira Faces ₹80 Crore Loss After Rebranding Decision

Prior to its anticipated 2026 IPO, the firm that makes Bira 91 beer rebranded itself from B9 Beverages Private Ltd. to B9 Beverages Ltd. According to a media report, the company had to write off INR 80 crore in inventory and cease sales for a few months as a result of this name change, which proved to be quite costly. There were problems with compliance until a new product label was registered. According to the research, this led to a 22% decline in revenue and a 68% increase in losses during the fiscal year 2023–2024.

IPO for Generating Adequate Working Capital

The IPO strategy was implemented at a time when craft beer producers, microbreweries, and international breweries introducing premium brands in India's expanding market were posing a serious threat. The company planned the IPO to generate new finances for its expansion objectives, stating that beer requires a significant level of working capital allocation and capital investment to grow. In 2023 alone, the beer sector made INR 92,324 crore in GDP contributions to India. According to a media citation, B9 Beverages experienced a net loss of INR 748 crore in 2023–2024, surpassing even its total sales of INR 638 crore. According to Ankur Jain, the founder of B9 Beverages, the business had to re-register labels and reapply across states for 4-6 months as a result of the name change, which led to absolutely no sales for several months even though there was a demand for its products.

Tough Time Ahead

In its first greenfield project in ten years, United Breweries, owned by the multinational conglomerate Heineken, said on 14 February that it would invest INR 750 crore in a new brewery in Uttar Pradesh. Carlsberg, a Danish beer company, stated that it plans to invest more in India by 2025. At a time when more consumers are looking for craft alternatives to major labels, B9 Beverages has lost money and maybe market share as a result of its name change error.

History of Bira

Due to cost savings, Bira began brewing in India after first importing the Hefeweizen-style beverage from Belgium ten years ago. Eventually, six outside breweries were added. According to the report, new companies like Bira make a substantial contribution to the industry not just through sales but also by launching creative goods and cutting-edge strategies.

Vinod Giri, Director General of the Brewers Association of India (BAI), was mentioned in a media article as saying that these enterprises need to remember that the attractiveness of a fresh, diverse flavour palette, whether it be wheat, dark lager, or craft, is rooted in its uniqueness. Therefore, its development plan and growth goals should withstand the pressure to quickly scale up in order to become a popular product. That would be neither here nor there and would only weaken the product's distinctiveness in the eyes of customers.