Page 184 - DNBI_A01.QXD

1615 : STEP THREE – EVALUATING AND SELECTING IDEAS

The analogy with French restaurants offering French wine, and
Chinese restaurants offering Chinese or Asian beer brands such as
Tiger or Tsing Tao, gave further credence in Bilimoria’s mind to the
compellingly simple concept of an Indian-produced beer to accompany
Indian food. The idea lay dormant until it was given further impetus
during the late 1980s by a chance meeting with a mentor. Bilimoria
started to consider importing into the UK the Pals beer which was the
main beer served in all the Indian army messes and which Bilimoria
knew from his youth because his father had been a general in the
Indian army. The option of Pals beer presented a number of obstacles,
not least of which was the brand name’s echo of a leading UK brand of
dog food.

Encouraged by his earlier broad-brush findings, however, Bilimoria
undertook further, more detailed research, which highlighted that no
beer currently available met his evaluation criteria. These criteria
included a strong, smooth taste combining the best qualities of beer and
lager, the authenticity of Indian manufacture, plus a nine-month shelf-
life to allow the beer to travel through an extended geographical
distribution chain. These criteria screened out Pals beer, which in
addition to its brand name difficulties did not travel well.

Bilimoria also discovered that the major competitors did not promote
themselves heavily in the Indian restaurant sector. Although some data
existed on the dynamics of the curry market, no specific research had
been undertaken into the ethnic beer market. Confident that he had
sufficient data to support his product concept, however, Bilimoria
approached Mysore Breweries in Bangalore, the owner of Pals beer,
with the request that they brewed his own brand of lager especially for
export. Three months were spent in testing and trialling the new
product under the expert guidance of the Czech-trained brew master.

Family networks helped Bilimoria identify a source of supply for bottles
strong enough for export – bottles for consumption in the Indian home
market were recycled and therefore of lesser quality. At 660 ml, the only
standard bottles available off the shelf were considerably larger than the
UK market norm which Bilimoria had initially specified. Demonstrating
an ability worthy of the great Ingvar Kamprad himself to convert
problems into opportunities, however, Bilimoria promoted the large
bottles as proof of the beer’s authentic Indian provenance.
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