Indage Vintners in dire straits. Employees go to police
Trouble at Indage Vintners seems to only get worse by the day. Employees have taken their salary issue to the police according to The Economic Times. Apparently, they have not been paid in three months and are concerned that the company has no intention of paying them. When we first reported that the Indage Vintners financial crisis was deepening, we did not believe it would be getting so bad so quickly.
Around 60 employees from different offices across the country jointly filed a complaint with the office of deputy commissioner of police, Worli, following the company's failure to meet its commitment that salaries would be paid by August 5th. Shamrao Chougule was earlier quoted as saying, "The hardship caused to the employees and their families will remain a nightmare for me for my lifetime."
There is no doubt that Indage Vintners paved the way for other Indian wine producers. With a 40% market share it has also been the largest player in the Indian market. With its operations in such a dire condition, a window is opening up for other winemakers to grab market share. Market share that is being quickly taken by Sula and Grover as they're the only other players with significant distribution across India.
However, Chougule is determined to fight back and has also been quoted as saying in the same communication to employees, "I have travelled a long distance in taking this pioneering industry to a level of global glory. I am sure the current temporary aberration will not result in any casualty so long, as all of you have desire and dedication to the cause."
There's no doubt that over ambition got the better of Indage Vintners. Its leveraged overseas acquisitions and misreading of the Indian wine market with too many bottles being pushed through into the channel have been the primary cause for its sudden fall from grace, according to industry insiders.
For the sake of Indage Vintners, the employees who have worked so hard to build the company and the Indian wine industry, and for consumers who benefit from choice, we hope that Indage Vintners recovers. It would be a dramatic and sad turn of events if the company were not able to recover from its current financial crisis.
Comments
It is distressing to read reports on the predicament of Indage, specially as Mr. Shamrao Chougule has been a pioneer in the Indian wine industry. One hopes Indage will assess the situation, ride through these rough times, and take measures to be back on track.
Brinda Gill is SI's Pune correspondent – Ed.
I request all wine lovers to drink wine from the indage stable (given a choice) to do our part in supporting the piomeer come back to it stance.good luck. (I own a vineyard at Dindori)
Mr. Shamrao Chougule did a great job bringing the company to this level. Business challenges like these are part of every business. I belive that "good company in temporary bad face is always an excellent investment". Given enough time Indage will reach to much greater heights from here. All the best Mr. Chougule and dont worry about the share price because I am buying as much as I can.
Thnx.
Indage was a good company as long was it was run by Sham. Many people invested and believed that Sham could do no wrong. Unfortunately, his decision to leave day to day management and hand over the reins to his son and the top management proved to be his undoing. They have brought to a state of shambles within a span of 2 years what was built over 30 years. All the labour of love is lost and what is left is only vinegar and not wine, debts, police cases, labour unrest, and payment problems. If the company survives it will be a miracle and the magic of Sham.