Why Brits shouldn’t overlook Indian middle class drinkers
Why is it that few people in the UK think Indian drinkers are middle class? David Jesudason reveals why the desi demographic is big business.
The recent news, reported in the drinks business, that Pernod Ricard India MD Jean Touboul believes middle-class Indians are now preferring “to drink less probably, but drink better” will come as a shock to some in this country.
It will surprise those who’ve never tasted a £69 chops at Ambassadors Clubhouse, just off London’s Savile Row. It will perplex those unaware that Indians are said to own more property in the capital than anyone else. It will dumbfound those who had no idea that middle-class Indians – especially those who drink – actually exist.
In these three examples “those” could be substituted for “marketers” who tend to see people of Indian origin – or desis – as a group without money or sober invisible groups. I hoped my book Desi Pubs would end this prejudice but, sadly, it continues.
But this ignorance isn’t entirely imbued in racism. India might have a growing middle-class population but those South Asians, like my parents, who came here after the Second World War haven’t always seen their lives enriched.
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My family paid British tax in Asia, fought for the Allies, and were told numerous lies by various governments that the UK was a land of riches. I’ve spoken to friends who were in the same situation, whose university-educated Asian parents left for a dream that turned into a nightmare when they realised the harsh realities of living as a person of colour in 20th century Britain.
The riches weren’t realised, racism was rife and the areas that saw house prices surge seem so alien to people like me (born late 1970s in Luton). It’s so maddening that I’m almost keen to join the ranks of the far right who want to end foreign aid to countries, such as India, but I offer this twist: give it instead to communities made up of those who came from the Commonwealth to rebuild this country. But seriously this money does little to reduce poverty in India in any way.
My family may have toiled in the NHS for little gain but others of South Asian origin haven’t suffered the same fate: see various Tory politicians who made different life choices. And you don’t have to have Rishi’s riches to be able to spend money on the types of drinks Touboul at Pernod Ricard is referring to.
Because if we’re willing to spend £69 on chops, then maybe desis need to be viewed as the most unexplored market the UK has to offer. And maybe even seen as a group worth including more when it comes to all aspects of the drinks industry.
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