Shanken’s Impact Newsletter, the leading source for exclusive data on the alcoholic beverage industry in the United States and internationally. Every issue features up-to-the-minute data and analysis on trends in the worldwide drinks market.
THE DRINKS BUSINESS HAS BEEN FACED with numerous challenges this year, but one thing that’s in no short supply is the creativ-ity and drive of ambitious marketers intent on leveraging innovation to unearth the future stars of the industry. Impact’s annual “Hot Prospects” awards recognize the fruits of those efforts—and the up-and-coming brands poised to become household names in the years ahead. To qualify as Hot Prospects, brands must have achieved at least 15% depletions growth for 2019, while also showing consistent growth in the two preceding years. For spirits and imported wines, brand volumes must be between 50,000 and 200,000 cases, while domestic wines are between 50,000 and 250,000 cases. This year, 37 spirits brands from a wide variety of categories have earned Hot Pros-pect honors. Among the recently…
DRIVEN BY IMPRESSIVE GROWTH FOR A NUMBER OF KEY PLAYERS, THE TOP 10 SPIRITS marketers worldwide enjoyed a collective 2% increase to 634 million 9-liter cases last year, according to Impact Databank. With that performance, which came amid an uncertain economic environment that has only deteriorated further in 2020 due to trade battles and the Covid-19 pandemic, the top 10 achieved a 50% share of total spirits volume worldwide. Market leader Diageo advanced by 0.6% to 218 million cases, and continues to hold an 83-million-case cushion over second-ranked Pernod Ricard, which climbed 4.3% to 135 million cases. Along with Pernod, Bacardi (+4% to 39 million cases) and Roust (+7.3% to 32 million cases) were among the fastest-growing members of the top 10 last year. India’s Allied Blenders & Distillers was…
WHILE MUCH REMAINS UNCERTAIN ABOUT THE STATE of the drinks business in the age of Covid-19, the industry continues to forge ahead, catering to the latest consumer tastes with new products and shaping the innovation pipeline to anticipate the trends of the future. IMPACT’s annual “Hot Prospects” list—celebrating the most promising smaller brands in the wine and spirits categories—features a wealth of examples of marketers connecting consumers with products that both fit the current moment and lay the groundwork for future growth. The Hot Prospects roster totals 87 brands, with roughly half of the honorees being new to the list this year—including 23 new award winners in spirits and 25 in wine. On the spirits list, the rapidly expanding RTD cocktail segment boasts multiple winners, as do the thriving Tequila…
DIAGEO HAS AGREED TO ACQUIRE super-premium gin label Aviation and New York-based parent company Davos Brands for as much as $610 mil-lion. The sum includes an initial payment of $335 million and a further potential consideration of up to $275 million based on the performance of Aviation over a 10-year period. Aviation nearly doubled in size to 53,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank. The brand has been among the upscale labels driving a renaissance in super-premium gin lately. Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds became co-owner and creative director of Aviation in 2018, helping to further expand the brand’s audience. Reynolds will retain an ongoing ownership interest moving forward. “The acquisition of Aviation American Gin and the Davos Brands portfolio is in line with our strategy to…
BACARDI IS MOUNTING A RENEWED push into spiced rum, reintroducing its former Oakheart label in a new in-carnation as Bacardi Spiced. Noting that spiced rum is the only segment of the rum category to show volume growth over the past decade, Bacardi is launching Spiced ($13) nationwide, targeting at-home occasions and both new and existing spiced rum consumers. “We feel the spiced segment poses an untapped opportunity, and we’re confident in our potential to steal share from declining segment leaders,” Bacardi rum vice president Lisa Pfenning told Impact. The company will pro-mote the launch with simple serves like Spiced & Cola, Spiced & Ginger, and Spiced & Pineapple. Bacardi’s name-sake brand rose 1.1% last year to 6.4 million cases in the U.S., boosted by innovation in flavors, premium rums, and…
NEW YORK-BASED DEUTSCH FAMILY WINE & SPIRITS HAS ONE OF THE HOTTEST franchises in the wine and spirits business in Impact “Hot Brand” Josh Cellars—which had U.S. retail value of approximately $550 million last year, according to Impact Databank—and the company says it’s continuing to fire on all cylinders in 2020, despite the pandemic. According to president Tom Steffanci, Deutsch has seen significant growth not only for Josh, but also renewed progress for Yellow Tail and Layer Cake in the off-premise. In the first three months of Deutsch’s fiscal 2021, which began in April, its two largest brands made rapid gains. Depletions for Josh are up 53%, with the Reserve tier nearly matching the core brand at 52%, from a much smaller base. Yellow Tail is up 16%, amid the…
