City distillery Khoday rejigs its positioning in alcobev industry, after remaining sober for over a decade

Khoday India, a homegrown firm started in 1906 that later started making a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, has embarked on a brand rejig, after remaining sober in the marketplace for over a decade.

The 119-year-old House of Khodays has announced expansion of its distillery off Kanakpura Road and production facilities across the country. To start with, the company will infuse ₹50 crore to fund these expansions.

New brands

The firm also said it would soon introduce a slew of new brands to reinforce its existing leadership in the Indian alcobev industry. New products include: three brands of Indian single malt whiskey, a luxury rum, and others.

To signal the beginning of its revived market push, House of Khodays launched Red Knight Premium Blended Whisky. The upgraded blend also features a refreshed logo, label, and bottle, said Aditya Khoday, the fifth generation distiller in the family and also a director.

According to him, Red Knight was originally introduced in 1967 and was the first whisky to be placed in the CSD Defence Canteens. Back then, Khoday Distilleries were visited by Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, to personally inspect them, Mr. Aditya Khoday told The Hindu.

Earlier speaking at a media get-together, Swamy Khoday, managing director, Khoday India, said the firm will soon introduce several new brands to reinforce their leadership in the Indian alcobev industry.

Narrating the route to Peter Scot Whisky, one of the iconic brands from Khoday stable, Mr. Aditya Khoday said it was his grandfather, the eldest Khoday, Ramachandra, who travelled to Scotland in the early 1960s and brought a famous whisky expert, Peter Warren, who in Bengaluru created a label whose first name was his own name.

Khoday, as part of diversification, is also planning to enter into lifesciences. 

Brothers who started

When the Khoday brothers, Ramachandra, Srihari (the most flamboyant Khoday who wore several hats, of an industrialist, philanthropist, litterateur filmmaker and music enthusiast), Padmanabh and Swamy founded Khodays Group over a century ago, the firm for a few years focused on silk, silk products, agro-products, and stationery products. Later, it exited all those businesses and consolidated on liquor business..