Goa, September 3, 2026: United Breweries Limited (UBL), part of the HEINEKEN Company, today outlined its strategic priorities and growth agenda at its Capital Markets Day 2026, focused on strengthening its core business, accelerating premiumisation and commercial execution, and driving productivity through technology, AI and automation.
Strong category opportunity. UBL primed for growth.
UBL highlighted the strong structural fundamentals underpinning the Indian beer market. More than 25 million young adults enter the legal drinking age every year, while rising disposable incomes, urbanisation and evolving consumer preferences are supporting category growth. India remains significantly underpenetrated, with annual per capita beer consumption of ~2.5 litres compared with a global average of around 25 litres. Beer is also gaining share globally. While wine and spirits have seen a decline in share of throat of 0.7 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points respectively, beer has increased its share by 0.6 percentage points. Against this backdrop, UBL sees a big opportunity to further grow the category through greater awareness, affordability and availability.
Beer currently faces a 1.3x higher tax burden per unit of alcohol in India compared with IMFL, despite its lower alcohol content. Approximately 65% of the retail price of beer comprises excise duties, creating scope for greater affordability through pricing and volume-based taxation reforms.
UBL pointed to recent state-level reforms as evidence of the potential for category acceleration. Karnataka’s AIB (Alcohol-in-Beverage) based duty structure, which taxes beverages according to alcohol content, contributed to approximately 55% category growth in the first month following implementation. Improved retail availability in Jharkhand supported approximately 55% category growth in H1 FY2026, while reforms in Maharashtra contributed to around 35% category growth during the same period. Across these markets, as the only national giant, UBL has grown faster than the category, supported by its portfolio strength, product-market fit and improved affordability.
Winning across mainstream and premium beer
A key pillar of UBL’s strategy is to address evolving consumer preferences through a strong and differentiated portfolio spanning mainstream, premium and international brands. The Company continues to build its premium portfolio across Heineken®, Heineken® Silver, Amstel Grande, Kingfisher Ultra and Ultra Max, while further strengthening the enduring scale and leadership of the Kingfisher franchise.
Premium beer is growing approximately 2.8x faster than the overall category, with nearly 70% of premium consumers having traded up from mainstream beer. Reflecting this momentum, UBL’s premium portfolio became margin accretive in H1 FY2026, with gross profit margin expanding by more than 1,000 basis points year-on-year. The Company also highlighted strong recent portfolio performance from last quarter:
| Kingfisher Ultra and Ultra Max: 11% growth | Heineken® Silver: 28% growth |
| Regional brands in select markets: 30% growth | Kingfisher brands: 6% growth over a large base |
Execution as a competitive advantage: UBL outlined continued investments in sales capability and commercial excellence to translate strategy into sustained market performance. Improved in-store execution has expanded Kingfisher brand coverage to 100% across targeted stores, supported by more than 50,000 coolers deployed in retail outlets and a 2.3x increase in draught beer deployment.
The Company is also strengthening its supply chain and manufacturing agility through long-term supplier partnerships and network expansion. UBL has added 8 Contract Brewing Units over the past two years and has 3 Cap-Ex projects planned for FY2026–27. Key initiatives include long-term partnerships with suppliers such as Soufflet Malt and Crown, increased localisation of sourcing and production, and a more agile manufacturing and supply chain network.
A differentiated state-by-state strategy for growth and margins
UBL is making deliberate, state-by-state choices to balance growth with profitability and margin expansion. This differentiated approach, combined with an improving state mix, underpins the Company’s guidance for growth in the mid-teens and margins in the teens. In states with gross margins of 25–35%, representing approximately 35% of industry contribution, the focus is on margin improvement; in the 35–50% margin range, accounting for around 30% of industry contribution, on protecting share while improving margins; and in higher-margin states of 50–65%, representing approximately 35% of industry contribution, on growing share and expanding the business.
The Company is driving productivity across the value chain through initiatives including long-term vendor partnerships, 100% local sourcing of malt and bottles, local production across 20 states, improved bottle collection pilots, transport optimisation and more effective allocation of trade investments. Digital and technology capabilities, including AI and automation, are expected to play an increasingly important role in building a faster, smarter and more productive organisation. UBL also highlighted its continued focus on water stewardship and brewing efficiency, reducing water consumption by 9% in FY2025–26 compared with the previous year.
Vivek Gupta, MD & CEO, United Breweries Limited, said: “We have strong conviction in the future of beer in India. As the market leader, we don’t just want to participate in category growth. We want to help create it through greater awareness, affordability and availability. With iconic brands, a growing premium portfolio, sharper execution and a future-first approach to technology and productivity, UBL is well positioned to shape and lead the next phase of growth for the category and create sustainable value.”
Tristan van Strien, Global Director, Investor Relations, HEINEKEN N.V., added: “India is one of HEINEKEN’s fastest-growing volume markets and an increasingly important growth engine for the company. UBL has built strong momentum and is expected to rank among HEINEKEN’s top contributors to premium volume globally. The category opportunity in India and UBL’s strategy position the company strongly for profitable growth.”
Creating value beyond the brewery
Beyond its business operations, UBL continues to build local partnerships, support communities and strengthen resilient domestic value chains. An independent Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Study by Steward Redqueen found that in FY2024–25, UBL supported approximately 295,000 employment opportunities across its value chain in India, contributed approximately ₹43,000 crore in value added to the Indian economy, generated around ₹30,600 crore in tax revenue, and sourced 93% of its procurement domestically.
About United Breweries Limited
Bengaluru-headquartered United Breweries Limited, part of the HEINEKEN Company, is the largest beer manufacturer in India. The company produces and markets packaged drinking water and soda, internationally recognized beer, and non-alcoholic beverages. Its diverse product portfolio comprises brands such as Kingfisher Strong, Kingfisher Premium, Kingfisher Smooth, Kingfisher Ultra, Kingfisher Ultra Max, Kingfisher Ultra Witbier, Heineken® Original, Heineken® Silver, Amstel Grande and Heineken® 0.0., along with Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water and Kingfisher Strong Power Soda. Most recent information is available on our Company’s website, and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
