United Breweries Group

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United Breweries (UB Group)

Location	Bangalore, India
Owner	Dr.Vijay Mallya
Year opened	1857
Active Beers
Kingfisher Lager	Lager
Kingfisher Light Lager	Lager
Kingfisher Strong Lager	Lager
Kingfisher Super Strong Lager	Lager
Flying Horse Royal Lager	Lager
Kalyani Black Label Strong Lager	Lager
Premium Ice Beer	Lager
Raj Cobra	Lager
Taj Mahal Premium Lager	Lager

United Breweries Group, based in Bangalore, is the world's 2nd largest brewer and the largest in India. The company markets most of its beer under the Kingfisher brand and has also launched Kingfisher Airlines, a domestic airline service in India.

The group is headed by Dr.Vijay Mallya who is also a member of the Indian Parliament. United Breweries now has a near-monopoly over the Indian brewing market, thanks to its recent takeover of the rival Shaw-Wallace company. The group owns the Mendocino Brewing Company in the United States.

1 History
- 1.1 The Logo
- 1.2 Present History
2 External links

[edit] History

The UB Group was founded by a Scottish gentleman Thomas Leishman in 1857. The Group took its initial lessons in manufacturing beer from South Indian based British breweries. At the age of 29, Vittal Mallya was elected as the company's first Indian director in 1947. After a year, he replaced R G N Price as the chairman of the company.

United Breweries made its initial impact by manufacturing bulk beer for the British troops, which was transported in huge barrels or "Hogsheads". Kingfisher, the Group's most visible and profitable brand, made a modest entry in the sixties.During the 1950's and 60's, the company expanded greatly by acquiring other breweries. First was the addition of McDowell as one of the Group subsidiaries, a move which helped United Breweries to extend its portfolio to wines and spirits business. Strategically, the Group moved into agro-based industries and medicines when Mallya acquired Kissan Products and formed a long-term relationship with Hoechst AG of Germany to create the Indian pharmaceutical company now known as Aventis Pharma , the Indian subsidiary of the global pharma major Sanofi-Aventis.

[edit] The Logo

The Pegasus, which is the symbol of the United Breweries, first found its place as the Group logo in 1940. Then, the Helladic horse – associated with beer and nectar in Greek mythology- carried a beer cask between the wings, ostensibly because beer formed the core operations of the Group. Later, the beer cask was removed to represent the Group’s multifaceted operations . Now, it is just the Pegasus.

[edit] Present History

Sales of the United Spirits Ltd. are expected to exceed 60 million cases during the fiscal year 2005-06 making the Group the third largest manufacturer of Spirits products in the world. In addition, USL is one of only three in the world to own seven millionaire brands and at least five brands rated by Drinks International, UK, to be amongst the ten fastest growing brands in the world in their respective categories. The market share of the Spirits Division in India is currently 60% and exports to the Middle East, Africa and Asian countries are growing rapidly.

The UB Group’s Brewing Enity - called United Breweries Limited (UBL) - has also assumed undisputed market leadership with a national market share in excess of 50%. Through a process of aggressive acquisition and market penetration, The UB Group today controls 60% of the total manufacturing capacity for Beer in India. The flagship brand, Kingfisher is now sold in over 52 countries worldwide having received many accolades for its quality.