United Breweries is pioneering a special initiative for farmers: The first equity participation of its kind in the Indian wine sector this will ensure for Four Seasons a regular supply of wine-grade grapes, replacing the existing contract-farming model.
The company, which has around 600 acres of vineyards through contract farming, will offer 500 shares of Rs10 each per acre of cultivation, said Abhay Kewadkar, chief wine-maker and a director of Four Seasons. "We have already received responses from about 1,000 farmers,” he informs. The size of equity dilution in Four Seasons “will be significant,” though United Spirits Ltd, the spirits company of UB Group, will hold the controlling stake in the wine company.