Gin is showing no signs of slowing

In fact, mainstream pink gin is driving this growth CGA director of client services Jonny Jones told delegates at The Morning Advertiser​’s Spirits Summit today (2 October) at the Loft in Shoreditch, east London.

According to CGA, gin is the clear winner, with volume growth of 33.2% over the past year and with a 14.3% share of the market.

However, Jones said there were also opportunities in the dark spirits categories, which are performing relatively well with golden rum seeing growth of 10.9%, dark rum growth of 8.6% and Irish whisky growth of 2.8%.

Consumer demand

He added: “Gin has been the big success story over the past five years and this shows no signs of slowing down.

“However, darker spirits categories such as rum and whisky are also showing growth and are hitting the market on consumer demand.

“Gin's strength of growth is hard to ignore. Gin has not peaked over the past 12 months  its growth has accelerated.”

Jones delved into the category and outlined how this growth has taken place in the on-trade.

Real innovation

He said: “That acceleration is driving by standard gin, not premium and this is due to the mainstream innovation through pink gin as this is accelerating the spirit’s performance.

“Pink gin is a real innovation that has driven consumers into the gin category as more than half (54%) of pink gin drinkers told us they don’t normally drink gin.”

There has been growth of 150% in the number of gin brands in the past three years, according to Jones.

He also talked about the spirits category in general and the NPD the sector is seeing: “There have been 964 new spirit launches in the past three years but only nine of those have passed the £1m mark in sales (moving annual total).

“Almost one quarter (24%) of all that NPD is coming through the gin category.”

The Spirits Summit, now in its fifth year, was powered by The Morning Advertiser in association with sponsors Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Warner Edward, Slingsby Gin, Starward and London Cocktail Week​