CBI Vice-President Lord Bilimoria shares his experience of taking Cobra Beer international.
Q. How did international expansion of Cobra Beer begin and what were the biggest hurdles you came across?
A. Every business needs to think globally from day one. After starting Cobra, importing it from Bangalore in India and distributing and selling it to the Indian restaurants in the UK, we very quickly started exporting the beer. Initially we went to countries in Europe and soon after to Canada. The challenge was always to find the right importer and distributor who would not only be credit worthy but have the ability and keenness to sell your brand in their market.
Q. How did you ensure you remained competitive against firms internationally?
A. Although being a brand of Indian origin, the fact Cobra is headquartered in the UK is a huge advantage. Cobra’s success in the UK, one of the most respected markets in the world, gives the brand enormous credibility globally.
We have found that in countries which have
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