Brands
Sula Vineyards sees record wine tourism amid trade slowdown
MUMBAI: Sula Vineyards is showing that a winery can also be a world-class resort. Even as wine sales slowed a bit in Bangalore, guests kept flowing into its hotel rooms, proving that the Nashik-based vintner knows how to keep visitors pouring in.
Sula’s wine tourism division has corked a spectacular result, posting a record-breaking revenue of Rs 22.0 crore for Q3 FY26, a staggering 33.7 per cent leap from the previous year. The draw of the vines attracted over 1,27,400 visitors, a 17 per cent increase in footfall driven by improved road connectivity from Mumbai and a bumper festive season.
The company also fast-tracked its hospitality expansion, launching ‘The Haven by Sula’ near York Winery. Originally planned for a later debut, the resort added 20 keys in December, three months ahead of schedule, bringing Sula’s total room capacity to 154 keys. Despite this massive jump in room supply, occupancy remained robust at 79 per cent, with Average Room Revenue (ARR) holding steady at Rs 10,483.
While the tourism side is effervescent, the Own Brands segment faced a bit of a hangover. Revenue dipped 12.9 per cent to Rs 169.5 crore, primarily due to a tactical destocking exercise in Karnataka. Sula intentionally reduced channel inventory to conserve working capital amidst subdued demand in Bangalore. Excluding this one-time correction, underlying revenue remained flat year-on-year.
The financial scorecard for Q3 FY26 reflected these shifts, with Gross Profit at Rs 116.9 crore, down 13.6 per cent, and Operating Ebitda at Rs 32.0 crore, a decline of 39.8 per cent. Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at Rs 9.1 crore, while the Elite and Premium segment maintained a dominant 80 per cent share of the portfolio mix.
New Blends and New Horizons Sula isn’t just resting on its barrels. The company recently launched ‘The Source Chardonnay Reserve’, an oak-fermented dry white aimed at the premium dining segment, and has Sula Muscat Blanc waiting in the wings.
On the operational front, the company is on track to expand its cellar capacity by 1 million litres, reaching a total of 19.2 million litres per annum by the end of FY26. With Maharashtra and Telangana markets showing signs of recovery and a new, top-secret resort project in Nashik already in the works, Sula’s leadership remains optimistic that the current dip is merely a pause before the next pour.
As the annual SulaFest recently saw its second consecutive sell-out, it’s clear that while the macro-economic climate might be a bit tart, the brand’s appeal remains as sweet as ever.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
