How the Company Which Makes Old Monk Rum Lost Its Mojo

The Mohan Meakin family won’t let the nation’s favourite rum die soon. But can it survive the competition?

A bottle of Old Monk. (Photo: Mohan Meakin)

Few would know that Mohan Meakin, the company that makes the famous rum Old Monk – also makes a healthy morning meal. Of course, Mohan’s New Life cornflakes is far behind in the numbers game from Kelloggs, which came to India in 1994.

And now the company’s prized drink, Old Monk itself is in trouble.

In fact, Mohan Meakin – whose brewery was the first in all of Asia – is a telling tale of how an established company fermented its stagnation because of a lax attitude, lack of innovation, stiff foreign competition, and aggressive Indian counterparts.

A Grand Old Firm

Founded in 1855 by Edward Dyer, Mohan Meakin was Asia’s first brewery. It started operations in the sleepy hill-town of Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh), where the water is suitable for brewing, and its first product was Lion Beer.

United Breweries came on to the scene only two years later in 1857.

A few years after he founded the company, Edward Dyer joined hands with H G Meakin who ran Meakin & Co. Ltd. During the first World War (1914-1918) both firms expanded their business as their cheap, local-made Indian beer became a huge hit even as the costs of importing beer from Europe became prohibitive. Following this success, the two firms merged to become Dyer Meakin & Co.Ltd.

In 1949, NN Mohan, an Indian businessman and patriarch of the Mohan family, acquired the company. In 1966, the company was renamed Mohan Meakin Breweries, and as the company diversified, the term ‘breweries’ was dropped from the name.

At one point, Mohan Meakin Limited was one of India’s largest companies. It was well positioned to consolidate its grip on the market further, but it badly faltered. For instance, for the financial year ending Mar 2014, the company ran losses of Rs. 25.64 Million, according to auditors AF Ferguson Associates.

Can You Teach an Old Company New Tricks?

A source close to the family tells The Quint that successive family members did not have the ability to keep growing the business, after the abrupt death in 1973 of Col. VR Mohan, the eldest son of NN Mohan and Managing Director of the company.

Also, old technology cannot win new business. Yet another source close to the family stated that no one in the management took initiative to ramp up their game.

To compete with competitors, you have to bring in new technology. They didn’t bring in new technology.

The company, with a turnover Rs 400 crore, also employs no professional CEOs. Yahi to sab problem hai, they did not bring in any professionals, the source rues.

In the end, the story of Mohan Meakin is not unlike other companies that failed to innovate. The Indian industrial landscape is littered with the debris of failed and failing companies, crumbling at the hands of competition.

But fans of the firm’s most famous drink need not worry. Old Monk is here to entertain, for the near future at least.