Strength Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

With minimum With time, they Entered the market Liberalisation of

investment, they were not able to at a time when the imports, led to
were able to grow increase their market for wine was higher
substantially. (4 operating margin. expanding at a competition from
lakh cases/month Instead, it massive rate (20% imported wines.  
in 3 years) decreased.  CAGR)

Speciality Other than the East and south Heavy

beverages investment of 1 cr. market. advertising and
performance was in a winery in promotions by
good and steady Nasik, no new competitors
investments on
any other winery

    Diversification to Overall market

speciality wine.  growth became
stagnant.

In the light of opportunities and threats and its strengths and weaknesses, what
strategy should SSBL have followed to improve its performance and strengthen its
competitive position. Explain with justification-based SWOT analysis.

SSBL entered the Indian wine industry in 2000 by acquiring the Himachal Wine Company and three
other smaller wine companies near Hyderabad and Nasik.

It performed well with a volume of 4 lakh cases per month within three years of their first full year of
operation and came up in the top 10 companies in India.

However, the sales became stagnant due to heavy advertisement by Indian competitors and entry of
foreign wines in the market.

Strategy that SSBL could followed to improve its performance and strengthen its
competitive position-
1. By 2010, SSBL had made quite a reputation for themselves, they should have leveraged this
reputation to keep their skin in the game and be relevant.

2. Using this reputation, the company should have diversified their portfolio and bring something
new to the Indian market. For example: they could have introduced an exotic wine range with wines
inspired from around the world like Sangria. This would have helped them go head-to-head with
international wine makers. Because they were an Indian brand, they could have competed in price
with the international brands.

3. Their profitability decreased because overall the market had slowed down. However, SSBL's other
wing of business was doing fairly well. They could have relied on that to get them through this bad
market phase, rather than selling off the brand.
4. Meanwhile, they could have invested more on acquiring new wineries, especially in the east.
Having a greater number of wineries along with increased operational margins would have made the
business profitable again with time.

5. Lastly, to compete with its Indian competitors, SSBL should have doubled down on marketing and
promotional efforts. Marketing their new 'exotic' range and even their old ones would help them
stay relevant and strong in the market.