Schnapps is emerging as a genuine and viable player in the white spirits market. Ben McFarland reports.
They are a charming, yet slightly sneaky bunch the Swedes. Not content with managing our national football team, consistently beating us in the Eurovision Song Contest and generally looking beautiful and healthy, they're now muscling their way into the UK's pubs and bars with their national drink! And what's more we don't seem to have even noticed!
The "white spirit market," a term often used to describe the collective fortunes of vodka, gin, rum and tequila brands, is soon to be shaken-up with the arrival of an emerging force.
Every week in the UK, hefty amounts of schnapps - a drink derived from a double-distilled spirit called aquavit and produced since medieval times in northern Europe, is consumed in an increasing number of different guises, however it is rarely asked for by name and the category is still dominated by brand calling.
Although UDV's Archers Peach Schnapps has dominated the category since its launch more than a decade ago and is listed in the vast majority of pubs and bars, few consumers see beyond the brand name and recognise its true identity and what's more, up until recently there were hardly any other recognised brands growing the schnapps market.
However, the drink is rapidly emerging as a genuine and viable player in a white spirits market traditionally dominated by vodka, gin and tequila and we seem to have finally cottoned-on to the versatility of a drink that is widely drunk in Europe as a shot, cocktail ingredient or as a long drink.
"At the beginning, it was very difficult to get into the peach schnapps market as no-one could compete with Archers and the commercial support it received from UDV," said Stuart Ekins, the national sales manager at InSpirit Brands, owners of Teichenné schnapps - a range of eight flavoured varieties imported from Spain. "But then people started to look at other flavours and experiment with different tastes and the category rapidly grew.
One of the best things about schnapps is that it can adapt as people's tastes are changing. As the market evolves, we can change the flavour."
Teichenné is one of a number of brands to introduce a wide range of flavours into the market and is currently in negotiations with Scottish and Newcastle to release a tailor-made blueberry flavour to meet increasing consumer demand. While peach still remains the top-seller, butterscotch flavoured schnapps is doing incredibly well especially in Scotland, while the likes of apple, vanilla and lemon all command a healthy following.
Mickey Finn, a new range of flavoured schnapps recently launched by Babco alcoholic beverages, has taken things a step further. Described as the "Ben and Jerry of the schnapps market," by Babco's chief executive Chris Bowen, (former director at the now-defunct FD Brands and brains behind the launch of FD Schnapps some years ago), Mickey Finn is the first schnapps range to use a mix of natural flavours and with names such as fiery cranberry with orange, spiked peach with passion fruit and blazed butterscotch with vanilla, is targeted squarely at the mass market. "It's a really funky, circuit drink and pubs have been doing a coupe of bottles every weekend," said Chris.
Interest in the category has been further precipitated by the arrival of schnapps-based premium packaged spirits such as Bacardi-Martini's Metz and more recently Archers Aqua, UDV's £10m launch aimed at the female market.
So much so, that Bacardi-Martini went against the grain by releasing a limited edition 40 per cent pure schnapps drink off the back of the PPS' success.
With the vodka-based PPS market becoming increasingly cluttered by the sheer number of "me too" challengers to the likes of Smirnoff Ice and Vodka Source, new arrivals into the market are turning to the less powerful white spirit as the preferred foundation.
KC Brands, a new spirit company set up by the directors of Smiles Brewery, is putting considerable support behind its flavoured FD Schnapps range and is expanding the offering with the release of FD Schnappz, "a more affordable PPS alternative to Archers Aqua" according to Mark Todd, chief executive.
While under its previous ownership, the FD Schnapps range was selling more than 50,000 cases and it is testament to the category's growing popularity that the new owners have chosen the flavoured collection as their flagship brand ahead of a premium vodka, a range of premium whiskey's and several liqueurs.
"The flavoured schnapps market is really in vogue at the moment," said Mark. "It seems to have the just right image and is as regarded as an ideal party drink.
"Thousands of young people go skiing or snowboarding every year and drink schnapps as part of their aprés-ski activities and then want to recreate the fun when they return to England."
The vast majority of schnapps in the UK market mirror the milder, smoother and more often than not flavoured examples found in Spain and Italy as opposed to the powerful varieties drunk in Eastern Europe and Germany that are more akin to vodka.
Its moderate ABV has been one of the main factors behind the UK flavoured schnapps market becoming the fastest growing in Europe.
"Compared with vodka and tequila, the alcohol level is relatively low which keeps the cost of importing the products to a minimum and this saving is then passed on to the consumer," said Stuart.
"At a quid a shot, a round of schnapps is very affordable whereas at £2.50 to 3.00 a go for a vodka or a tequila, the fun factor is reduced quite considerably."
A respectable ABV has been a major factor in the emergence of schnapps as the preferred option among the "slamming" fraternity that now frequent young people's venues up and down the country.
Teichenné has somehow managed to bridge the chasm between the style bar market, where it is used as a flexible cocktail base, and mass market venues such as Bass Leisure Retail's It's A Scream where it's lucky to remain on the bar for more than five seconds.
"It doesn't have the gag factor associated with vodka," added Babco's Chris. "It's an incredibly versatile drink and as a shooter it gives bars incremental volume. We're not stealing from anyone."
The runaway success of Bulmers' Sidekick, with its novel PEP shot glass that perches on the side of a pint glass or beer bottle, is a case in point.
Initially dismissed by many within the industry as nothing more than a gimmick, the 30ml range of flavoured schnapps chasers recorded sales of more than five million within six weeks of its launch.
Chris Lewis of Bulmers said: "Response to Sidekick has been exceptional with over 7000 pubs and clubs already stocking it. Licensees have quickly recognised the incremental value it adds to their bar takings."
More versatile than tequila, more palatable in both taste and price than vodka and more marketable than gin - the grandfather of the white spirits market, Schnapps' transition from the Swedish smorgasbord to the UK on-trade has been a smooth one and if Sven Goran Eriksson can mirror its success on these shores, then that would be even better.