Type | Lager |
---|---|
Manufacturer | United Breweries Group |
Country of origin | India |
Introduced | 1857 |
Alcohol by volume | 4.8% |
Variants | Kingfisher Premium Kingfisher Zero Kingfisher Strong Kingfisher Magnum Strong Kingfisher Strong Fresh Kingfisher Draught Kingfisher Ultra Kingfisher Blue Kingfisher Red Kingfisher Lager Kingfisher Storm |
Related products |
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Website |
Kingfisher is an Indian beer brewed by United Breweries Group, Bangalore, India. The brand was first introduced in 1857 and then relaunched in 1978 by Vijay Mallya. With a market share of over 36% in India, it is also available in 52 other countries as of 2013. [1]
In 1978, Vijay Mallya launched Kingfisher Premium beer, inspired by the defunct brand from United Breweries Group which was introduced in 1857. [2] [3] As the Advertising Standards Council of India banned alcohol advertisements in India, the UB Group began to promote the brand through surrogate advertisements of Kingfisher mineral water. After the group began operating Kingfisher Airlines in 2005, advertisements made their way into airplane cabins. [4] [5] In the United States, the company promoted the Kingfisher beer by de-ethnicizing the brand. [6]
Kingfisher Beer Europe Ltd. (KBE) is the European arm of United Breweries with a head office in Maidstone, Kent. [7] In the UK, Kingfisher is brewed under licence by Heineken but to the same recipe as used in India. The company runs independently of Kingfisher World and has its own assets such as website, social media, POS suite & marketing objectives such as the tagline, 'The Real Taste of India' which highlights the brand's genuine heritage and sets it apart from other similar products in the UK & Europe.
KBE sells Premium, which is available in four formats; 330 mL (24 x 330 mL cases), 650 mL (12 x 650 mL case), pint or half pint draught and kegs (30 or 50 L). [8]
In November 2016, KBE launched [9] Peacock Cider: a 'quality apple cider' created to 'elegantly complement Asian flavours, providing a burst of apple refreshment to balance aromatic spices.' [10]
In 2017, KBE added two more products to its portfolio - Bintang Beer, 'Indonesia's No.1 Beer' and Pearl River Beer, an 'Iconic Cantonese Beer'.
In 2023, Kingfisher Zero was launched as a 0% variant of Kingfisher Premium. [11]
Kingfisher is ranked 74th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2012, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory. In the Brand Trust Report 2013, Kingfisher was ranked 102nd among India's most trusted brands and subsequently, according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, Kingfisher was ranked 198th among India's most trusted brands. [12]
Stella Artois is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is also sold in other countries including the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia, where it has a reduced ABV. Stella Artois is owned by Interbrew International B.V. which is a subsidiary of the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.
Carlsberg A/S is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg. The company employs around 41,000 people, primarily in Europe and Asia. Carlsberg is currently the 6th largest brewery in the world based on revenue.
Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold.
Koninklijke Grolsch N.V., known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895, the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century and held a significant stake until 2007. Today the main brewery is in Enschede.
Holsten Brewery is a brewing company founded in 1879 in what is now Hamburg's Altona-Nord quarter. The group now has seven breweries in Germany. Its nationally distributed premium brand is the pale lager Holsten Pilsener. The company was acquired by the Carlsberg Group in 2004.
The Carling Brewery was founded in 1840 by Thomas Carling in London, Canada. Carling lager was first sold in the United Kingdom in 1952, and in the early 1980s became the UK's most popular beer brand by volume sold. The company was acquired by Canadian Breweries, renamed Carling O'Keefe, and merged with the Molson Brewery, which then merged with Coors to form Molson Coors.
Cascade Brewery is a brewery established in 1824 in South Hobart, Tasmania, and is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Beer arrived in Australia at the beginning of British colonisation. In 2004 Australia was ranked fourth internationally in per capita beer consumption, at around 110 litres per year; although, the nation ranked considerably lower in a World Health Organization report of alcohol consumption per capita of 12.2 litres. Lager is by far the most popular type of beer consumed in Australia.
Beer in India has been prepared from rice or millet for thousands of years. In the 18th century, the British introduced European beer to India. Beer is not as popular as stronger alcoholic beverages like desi daru and Indian-made foreign liquor, such as Indian whiskey. The most popular beers in India are strong beers.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in New Zealand, accounting for 63% of available alcohol for sale. At around 64.7 litres per person per annum, New Zealand is ranked 27th in global beer consumption per capita. The vast majority of beer produced in New Zealand is a type of lager, either pale or amber in colour, and typically 4–5% alcohol by volume.
United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), also called UB Group, is the Indian subsidiary of Heineken N.V.. It is headquartered in UB City, Bangalore, Karnataka. Its core business includes beverages and investments in various sectors. The company markets beer under the Kingfisher brand, and owns various other brands of alcoholic beverages. United Breweries is India's largest producer of beer.
Mountain Goat Beer is a brewery in Richmond, Victoria, Australia. The brewery was founded in 1997 by Cam Hines and Dave Bonighton. The company's first commercial brew, 'Hightale Ale' amber ale, was released in October 1997. Mountain Goat Beer was purchased by Asahi in September 2015.
Beer in the United Kingdom has a long history, and has quite distinct traditions. Historically the main styles were top-fermented Bitters, Porters, Stouts and Milds, but after World War II lagers took over half the market by volume. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971 and has encouraged the preservation and revival of traditional styles of ale. In particular CAMRA has promoted cask conditioned beer, which completes its maturation in casks in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery. As of 2014 the UK drank 634 million imperial pints of cask ale, representing 60% of ale in pubs and restaurants and 17% of all beer in pubs. In total 42.42 million hectolitres of beer were produced in 2013 of which 48% was sold in the off-trade.
Sharp's Brewery is a British brewery founded in 1994 in St Minver Lowlands, Rock, Cornwall, by Bill Sharp. Since 2011, the brewery has been owned by Molson Coors. It is best known for its flagship ale Doom Bar, named after the notoriously perilous Doom Bar sandbank in north Cornwall.
Beer in Asia began when beer was produced in Sumer, Mesopotamia circa 6000 years ago. It was introduced by Europeans in the 19th century, with modern breweries established in British India, the Dutch East Indies, China, and Japan. Asia's first modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European brewing technology.
Guinness is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 litres. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually.
Vijay Vittal Mallya is an Indian fugitive, former businessman, and politician. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India.
Oettinger Brauerei is a brewery group in Germany. Oettinger was Germany's best selling beer brand between 2004 and 2013 with an annual output of 6.21 million hectolitres (5,290,000 US bbl) in 2011.
Cloudwater Brew Co is an independent craft brewery based in Manchester, England. Established in 2014, the brewery began making beer the following year and quickly gained a reputation for the quality of its products. In 2017 and 2018, Cloudwater was ranked among the ten best breweries in the world by beer scoring website RateBeer, becoming the only UK brewery ever to be featured. Several Cloudwater beers have also received accolades at the same awards.