France’s luxury goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) will introduce two new versions of its flagship vodka Belvedere – Belvedere IX and Belvedere Intense in India by September this year. At present, Belvedere is available in the Cytrus and Pomarancza flavours apart from the original Belvedere in the country.

A bottle containing 700 ml of Belvedere costs around Rs 2,700 in the country, while the other two flavours cost Rs 3,000. “We will launch Belvedere IX in and Belvedere Intense in the domestic market in September-October this year,” Bruno Yvon, managing director of Moet Hennessy India (the Indian wines and spirits arm of LVMH) told Financial Chronicle.

Yvon, however, declined to comment on the prices of the new Belvedere variants – as they are determined two months prior to the launch. Belvedere competes with Bacardi’s Grey Goose, which is priced around Rs 2,100-2,200.

According to industry estimates, the market for white spirits is growing at 25-30 per cent annually, while the market for luxury white spirits grew by 7.5 per cent in 2008. In India, people are getting more in to luxury white spirits. The luxury white spirits market is set to grow by 10 per cent this year.

LVMH has a portfolio of around 22 liquor brands including the likes of Hennessy cognac, Glenmorangie single malt and flagship champagnes Dom Perignon and Moet & Chandon. The luxury group has various businesses apart from wines and spirits such as perfumes, watches, jewellery, fashion accessories and leather goods. In 2008, the company clocked $4,348 million worth of revenues from its wine and spirits business, while LVMH’s total revenues for the same period stood at around $23 billion. While Europe is the company’s biggest market, contributing to 31 per cent of their overall revenues, Asia accounts 25 per cent.