Some serious competition in the beer market was overdue. We only had a few national brands (the brands that are available in most cities in India). We had Kingfisher and we had Golden Eagle and to some extent Black label. There were other brands available in the regional markets.
Quality Issues
I remember that sometimes we bought beer that had no label because it was chilled in Ice and the label used to come out. So you had to depend on your taste buds to tell you if the product you were consuming was genuine. The enterance of Fosters in Indian market has brought some healthy competition and other brands have to pick up their game about the way they present their product. How many times we have seen the bottle of beer having rust on the seal or its cap. Fosters is covering the cap with a tamperproof seal. The quality control of Fosters is enviable and the specifications are tight and that makes sure that the product is reliable every time.
Fosters India
In India Fosters is near Mumbai in Aurangabad and it started about five years ago. The company had come to India after burning its fingers in China where they had used all expatriates (Australian employees). In India Fosters uses all indian employees and the quality is very well controlled. And Indian brewers are second to none. They do get trained in Australia.
What Next?
But as I said this is only the beginning. Fosters is number one brand in England and it is very popular in some other countries but the number one brand in Australia is called Victoria Bitter. Some call it VB or simply VIC. This beer is bitter as compared to the indian beers that also includes Fosters. Then there are other premium brands such as Crown Lager and Cascade Premium. One has to sip these beers to appreciate what a premium brand is. I am writing this to increase awareness so we should be ready to see the best available. The premium brands are not available in the indian market but these may soon find their way once the market in India appreciates the good quality of beer. In the meantime keep the glass filled.