Sri Lanka emerging as a ‘soft liquor haven’

By Hiran H.Senewiratne

A British veteran in the liquor and hospitality industry, Paul Topping, said that Sri Lankan is an important liquor market, where the consumption of especially soft liquor, such as wine, is growing and explained that the industry has a lot of growth potential alongside the development of the tourism sector.

“Local soft liquor products/brands should be promoted and support needs to be extended to the relevant companies to manufacture top quality products to attract tourists and target the export market, Topping told The Island Financial Review last week at a function where a company known as Global Brands (Pvt) Ltd, a leading wine importer in Sri Lanka, opened one of its outlets at Altair building.

Topping, who is the chairman of the company said the latter is the market leader in the wine business in Sri Lanka. He said that the world’s best- selling Californian, Australian, Italian and French wines are sold in Sri Lanka by his company which also supplies almost all the tourist hotels (On Premise market) as well as the (Off Trade market), such as supermarkets and foreign liquor shops.

Managing Director of Global Brands Patrick Gregory, known as the best Wine Sommelier in Sri Lanka, with wide international exposure in wine tasting, said that the newly opened Wine Mart is the maiden Mini Mart selling soft liquor, such as a wide choice of wines and beers.

“As tourism is booming in Sri Lanka we need to cater to the wide ranging of tastes of those visiting Sri Lanka from many parts of the world. Hence, it requires a wide selection of the best global brands, Gregory said.

The company plans to establish a network of 60 liquor outlets in every strategic tourist location in the country. The first phase of the project will include 16 Mini Marts, of which eight will be Full Liquor (wine, beer and spirits) outlets and eight will be Soft Liquor outlets (wine and beer).

The company will soon be opening retail shops in areas where tourism thrives, especially Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Unawatuna, Ahangama, Weligama, Mirissa, Hiriketiya, Ella, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Dambulla, Negombo, Piliyandala. An outlet will also be opened in Colombo featuring full liquor.

The company is also planning to open outlets in Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Arugambe and some other prominent tourist locations.