brewing founded 1989 founder karan bilimoria headquarters burton upon trent staffordshire uk area served uk india europe middle east east asia key people mark hunter global ceo of molson coors karan bilimoria chairman cobra beer partnership products cobra premium beer cobra zero king cobra website www.cobrabeer.com cobra beer is an indian beer brand manufactured in the united kingdom and china . the group s primary product is an extra smooth premium beer with an alcohol strength of 4.8 % volume . the beer was founded in 1989 by karan bilimoria 1 and arjun reddy who thought that britain needed a smoother less gassy lager which would appeal to both ale drinkers and lager drinkers alike . 1 a blend of water malted barley yeast rice maize wheat and four varieties of hops is used to produce the required characteristics . 1 in june 2011 molson coors bought a controlling interest in cobra . 2 as of 2014 cobra beer is primarily produced in burton upon trent 3 rodenbach in belgium and in patna in the indian state of bihar . 4 contents 1 history 2 products 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit lord bilimoria founder and chairman cobra beer partnership cobra beer was founded in 1989 by karan bilimoria 1 then aged 27 and 20 000 in debt . 1 a cambridge law graduate and qualified chartered accountant bilimoria launched cobra beer when it became clear to him that britain needed a smoother less gassy lager that appealed to both ale drinkers and lager drinkers alike and that complemented all types of cuisine . 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 . 5 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 based mysore brewery in 1990 at the start of the early 1990s recession 1 however large consumer demand and increased import costs prompted bilimoria to move production to the united kingdom in the mid 1990s . 6 from 1996 cobra beer was brewed under contract by charles wells ltd 7 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 king cobra was launched . 8 brewed at belgium s rodenbach brewery it is currently the only pilsner style lager to be fermented in the bottle . 9 the company s alcohol free beer cobra zero was also launched in 2005 . the beer was well received at launch being ranked by the daily mirror as head and shoulders above the rest . 10 however business losses accelerated in 2007 with total losses for the trading year to august 2007 reaching 13.6 m 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 % . 11 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 % . 12 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 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 . 13 in june 2011 it was reported that molson coors 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 . 2 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 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 . 14 as of november 2014 cobra currently has a market share of over 98 % of all licensed indian restaurants within the united kingdom . 14 in february 2014 cobra launched a new advertising campaign with the farringdon based agency karmarama . entitled meet the boss the advertisement was well received in a number of areas including being dubbed ad of the week by the communications agency stratton craig . 15 in the first three months of the campaign cobra saw 23 % growth in volume sales in the off trade and a 77 % volume growth in bars over a similar period . 16 products edit the cobra beer range currently consists of three beers citation needed cobra premium 4.8 % an extra smooth premium beer and is currently sold in 330ml and 660ml bottles . a draft version 4.3 % is also available . cobra zero 0.0 % a non alcoholic version of cobra premium sold since 2005 . king cobra 7.5 % a double fermented pilsner style lager . between them cobra beers have won a collective total of 88 gold medals at the international monde selection awards making them amongst the most awarded beers in the world . 17 references edit a b c d e f cobra indian lager beer . thedrinkshop.com . 2010 03 02 . retrieved 2010 10 03 . a b molson coors buys 51 % stake in cobra . the times of india . 24 june 2011 . retrieved 14 november 2011 . burton becomes the new home of cobra beer . burton mail . 2010 04 08 . retrieved 2011 11 27 . about molson coors cobra india . retrieved 27 november 2014 . interview with karan bilimoria on bbc news website 6 august 2014 http www.bbc.co.uk news business 28439834 bilimoria karan 2007 . bottled for business the less gassy guide to entrepreneurship . 1st ed . . chichester wiley . pp. 46 49 . isbn 978 1 84112 726 2 . exclusive mongoose bites cobra . brewers guardian . 5 july 2010 . retrieved 12 august 2012 . bilimoria karan 2007 . bottled for business the less gassy guide to entrepreneurship . 1st ed . . chichester wiley . pp. 99 102 . isbn 978 1 84112 726 2 . king cobra . www.cobrabeer.com . molson coors . retrieved 27 november 2014 . bilimoria karan 2007 . bottled for business the less gassy guide to entrepreneurship . 1st ed . . chichester wiley . pp. 91 92 . isbn 978 1 84112 726 2 . source annual report and accounts posted with companies house in may 2008 source acnielsen 2009 goodman matthew 2009 05 31 . cobra beer saved from administration at last gasp . the times . london . retrieved 2010 04 30 . a b smale will . how cobra beer regained its sparkle . news.bbc.co.uk . bbc news . retrieved 27 november 2014 . ad of the week cobra beer meet the boss . http www.strattoncraig.co.uk . retrieved 27 november 2014 . external link in website help shields mike . cobra awarded gold by monde selection . http www.fdiforum.net . retrieved 27 november 2014 . external link in website help http www.cobrabeer.com en awards further reading edit bilimoria karan 2007 . bottled for business the less gassy guide to entrepreneurship . capstone publ . ltd. a wiley company . isbn 978 1 84112 726 2 . external links edit cobra beer official website lord bilimoria personal website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cobra beer & oldid 740783755 categories companies established in 1989beer in englandmolson coors brandshidden categories cs1 errors external linkspages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views 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