Europe: For the past three years Cobra Beer sales in Europe registered an annual growth of over 48 %. For 10 years, its sales increased by about 40 %. Cobra's chief executive, Karan Bilimoria, mentioned the growth target has not yet been achieved.

Part of the growth will come from three new beer products, one of them a non-alcoholic version of Cobra. Another innovation is his General Bilimoria wine. It comes in nine varieties, is produced in France and Spain, and is now selling about 350,000 bottles a year. For years, British curry eaters were Cobra's principal customers. The beer, though brewed in Britain, was marketed as 'Indian' - complete with a label that featured an outline of India and Indian script.

Cobra is now available in almost 90 % of Britain's Indian restaurants and in nearly every supermarket run by the big chains. It is also on sale in most European countries and even the Russians are drinking it.

"The selling comes down to the basics of having a product that is different in some way. We offer a beer that is less gassy and smooth. It's benefit is that it goes well with spicy food," Bilimoria says. Its distinctive taste is now a significant selling point in Eastern Europe, Bilimoria told the magazine in a rare interview. "Beers brewed there are halfway between gassy lager and the less lively British bitter, and thus have similarities with Cobra," he stresses.

As part of his continuing invasion of Eastern Europe, Bilimoria zoomed into St.Petersburg at the end of last year for the Russian launch of his beer. Appropriately, Bilimoria chose an Indian food festival as the backdrop for the launch.

Bilimoria started exporting his beer to the continent soon after founding the company in 1990, "but only in a small way." Then in 1996, Cobra beer sales began to surge. One of the first signs of its growing popularity was that distributors were telephoning him to snap up orders. So, Bilimoria decided to pursue overseas sales more aggressively.

In Britain, which accounts for 92% of Cobra's sales, the beer is produced at the Charles Wells brewery in Bedford.

The biggest export market so far is the Irish Republic. But with an eye to building sales on the continent, Bilimoria approached the Belgian brewer Palm, which recommended using its Browar Belgia brewery, in Kielce, Poland. It began producing Cobra in December 2003. Bottles and cans of Cobra now stream out of the plant, destined mainly for export to the rest of Europe.

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