Cobra Beer
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Cobra Beer is a
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
manufactured in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The group's primary product is a premium beer with an alcohol strength of 4.5% by volume (originally 4.8%). The beer was founded in 1989 by
Karan Bilimoria Karan Faridoon Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, (born 26 November 1961) is a British Indian businessman, life peer in the UK House of Lords, and a university chancellor. Bilimoria founded the global beer brand, Cobra Beer and is the company's chai ...
and Arjun Reddy. A blend of water, malted barley, yeast, rice, maize wheat and three varieties of hops is used to produce the required characteristics. In June 2011,
Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...
bought a controlling interest in Cobra. As of 2014, Cobra Beer is primarily produced in
Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...
, Rodenbach in Belgium and
Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
in the Indian state of
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
.


History

Cobra Beer was founded in 1989 by
Karan Bilimoria Karan Faridoon Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, (born 26 November 1961) is a British Indian businessman, life peer in the UK House of Lords, and a university chancellor. Bilimoria founded the global beer brand, Cobra Beer and is the company's chai ...
, then aged 27 and £20,000 in debt. Bilimoria said that "the (British) lager was too fizzy, too harsh and too bloating. It meant that I couldn't eat or drink as much as I would like. At the same time, I found real ale to be great in a pub, but too bitter and heavy with food. So I came up with the idea of creating a beer with the refreshment of a lager, but with the smoothness of an ale." Although originally intended to be named 'Panther', the name was changed to 'Cobra' when a focus group found the latter more appealing. The first shipment of Cobra was imported to the UK from the
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
-based Mysore Brewery in 1990, at the start of the
early 1990s recession The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incu ...
, however, large consumer demand and increased import costs prompted Bilimoria to move production to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s. From 1996, Cobra Beer was brewed under contract by
Charles Wells Ltd Wells & Co. (formerly Charles Wells Ltd) is the holding company of the Charles Wells Brewery and Pub Company (a pub chain). Charles Wells Ltd was founded in 1876 by Charles Wells in Bedford, England. The Charles Wells Pub Company controls over ...
and experienced strong growth in sales for the next ten years. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Cobra experienced double-digit growth. In 2005, the company's premium
pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...
, King Cobra, was launched. Brewed at Belgium's
Rodenbach Brewery Rodenbach is a brewery in Roeselare, Belgium, now owned by Palm Breweries. It is noted for its barrel-aged sour beers in the Flemish red style. Brewery In 1821, the four Rodenbach brothers (Pedro, Alexander, Ferdinand and Constantijn) investe ...
, it is currently the only pilsner-style lager to be fermented in the bottle. The company's alcohol-free beer, Cobra Zero, was also launched in 2005. However, business losses accelerated in 2007 with total losses for the trading year to August 2007 reaching £13.6m on an annual turnover of around £45m. As of 2008, the business was approximately £26 million in debt and had borrowings from venture capitalists attracting interest at a daily compound rate of 15%. Despite this, Cobra continued to accelerate its sales growth. Cobra's half year sales figures for the period from 1 August 2008 to 31 January 2009 showed growth in volume terms of 21%. It is this strategy of growing sales, instead of concentrating on the "bottom line" which may have caused the company's financial problems. On Friday 29 May 2009 the company went into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
, owing an estimated £75 million to suppliers. On the same day, the business was rescued through the formation of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited, a joint-venture between Molson Coors and Karan Bilimoria, with Molson Coors owning 50.1% of the shares and Bilimoria appointed as Chairman. In June 2011, it was reported that
Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...
had also purchased a 51% stake in Cobra India, renamed as ''Molson Coors Cobra India''. The remaining 49% of the venture is controlled by Bilimoria. As of 2014, Cobra Beer has continued to experience increased sales – albeit at a slower place that it experienced during the 1990s. Since the formation of the joint venture with
Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...
, growth has averaged between 7% and 10% in terms of year-on-year expansion and in 2013 had turn-over of £59.1 million and profit before tax of £7.7 million. As of November 2014, Cobra had a market share of over 45% of all licensed Indian restaurants within the United Kingdom.


Products

The Cobra Beer range currently consists of three beers: *''Cobra Premium (4.5%)'', an extra-smooth premium beer that is currently sold in 330ml and 620ml bottles. A draft version (4.3%) is also available. It is branded as Cobra World Beer for the UK market. *''Cobra Zero (0.0%)'', a non-alcoholic version of Cobra Premium, sold since 2005. *''King Cobra (7.5%)'', a double fermented Pilsner-style lager. Cobra Beers have won a collective total of 101 gold medals at the international
Monde Selection Monde Selection is an annual non-competitive award open to food, drinks, and cosmetics products, created in 1961. It is run by the commercial company, International Institute for Quality Selections, Brussels, Belgium. Consumer products are tasted a ...
awards.


References


Further reading

*


External links


Cobra Beer official website

Lord Bilimoria personal website
{{Authority control Food and drink companies established in 1989 Beer brands of the United Kingdom Molson Coors brands Indian beer brands