PEAKLIFE

Mr. Kunal Patel joined his father’s business in the year 2013. He, with his brand new outlook, expanded the business’ vision. Monika Enterprises now represents international liquor brands in India, and this is just the beginning because as Kunal Patel says, “the sky is the limit”.

Mr. Bhimji Patel founded Monika Enterprises in 2008, with the aim of importing foreign liquor in India. Four years ago, when Mr. Kunal Patel, Bhimji’s son took over the enterprise, he brought in fresh perspectives to grow and expand the company towards other ventures. Kunal firmly believes, “Opportunities get killed in a closed room. Business needs the freedom of imagination”

The company introduced ready-to-drink shots called slingshots, followed by Peruvian white brandy, Pisco into Indian markets. The company also ventured into BIO products, warehousing, distribution. Simultaneously, he also began to represent some of the exclusive international brands in India like Belenkaya Vodka, Russian Standard Vodka, Jose Cuervo (the world’s best-selling tequila brand), Kraken (fastest growing spiced rum in the world), Ron Diplomatico (one of the finest rums in the world), Bushmills (Ireland’s oldest licensed whiskey). The company which earlier housed only two brands in 2017, was almost 42 brands and 120 labels strong in the year 2020.

Under Kunal Patel’s leadership, the company has achieved a turnover of half a billion rupees. The company has also bagged the distribution rights for selections from the spirit
menu of Roust, Diplomatico and Proximo Spirits. The company also provides a full-fledged state of the art warehousing facility for every industry through its logistics division and their distribution channel runs a licenced FL1 Trade. In January 2020, they launched their own distribution network in Maharashtra and Goa to enhance prompt delivery.

Without a doubt, with his father’s experience and his fresh outlook, Kunal Patel is taking the family business to new heights. For Kunal Patel, Tequila is the next big thing for the Indian market, after Gin. Analysing the growing demand for white spirits in the Indian market, seemingly Tequila’s demand will see an upsurge.

According to him, social media brings global exposure to our country and the youth is more than happy to welcome new trends and experiences. He also realises that every year millions of young people reach the legal drinking age, which hence becomes their target audience. With growing Tequila consumption overseas, and with many celebrities like Dwayne Johnson, George Clooney launching their own Tequila brands coupled with increased domestic consumption, Tequila’s future in India looks promising.

Kunal aims to increase the current single-digit market share of Tequila, for this Monika Enterprise is aiming to target the 70% market share of the Indian Tequila market by devoting 40% of its marketing budget to promote its tequila segment. The Tequila segment includes world-class brands like Jose Cuervo and 1800 Tequila. Kunal Patel aims to bring the same unparalleled class to Indian markets.

To move further in this direction, the company has partnered with renowned bartenders to be brand ambassadors who understand the spirit and the manufacturing process for their brands which would help them in training as well as in educating the consumers at home. The company also plans to conduct a series of events, for training, tastings, and competition to popularize Tequila among Indian consumers.

Kunal says, “Though Tequila is popularly consumed as a shot, there is more than one way to consume the spirit; Blanco Tequila is the clear tequila which is bottled shortly after distillation and is usually consumed in a cocktail. Reposado Tequila which is aged for a minimum of two months and has a certain golden color to it, is consumed chilled as a shot. The Anejo is aged for at least a year which gives it a dark color and this variant is usually consumed with ice and water. The Extra Anejo which has to be aged for at least 3 years is consumed as a sipping tequila so as to taste every note of it. Finally, the Cristalino is actually the Anejo which is then filtered to give it a crystal-clear appearance”