Pink gin drinkers have ‘more than doubled’
A report from data experts CGA into major current gin trends highlights the huge growth of gin and shows on-trade sales reached £1.4bn in the year to mid-May 2019. It also found that 8.9m people are now drinking gin out of home – up by 2.3m in just 12 months.
Remarkable revival
CGA director of client services for drinks Jonny Jones said: “This research shows there is no end in sight to the remarkable revival of gin sales.
“From value brands to artisan distilleries, the category is booming to the point where consumers now drink gin out of home more often than vodka.
“They are becoming ever more adventurous and experimental in their purchases, which makes it vital for suppliers and operators alike to obtain the sharpest insights into the latest trends and market preferences.”
Extraordinary success
In The Pink Big Trends in the Gin Market also found sales in the pink and flavoured gin category increased more than eight-fold to £392m in the same period and about 5.1m consumers now say they drink gin – a number that has more than doubled from 2.2m a year.
Jones added: “Pink gin has been an extraordinary success story for the on-trade. It is clearly tempting a lot of drinkers away from other spirits and cocktails, and with new pink gin producers now piling into the market, it will be fascinating to see where the category goes from here.
“Brands and bars will have to innovate and keep their range fresh if they are to keep up with the pink gin mega-trend – and the best way to do that is to get a deep understanding of the drinkers behind it.”
Seven big gin trends:
- Soaring sales – the gin boom shows no sign of slowing and Britain’s on-trade gin sales were worth £1.42bn in the 12 months to mid-May 2019, up by 55.6% on the previous 12 months
- Success for mainstream and premium brands – there is a strong demand for all segments of the gin market. Sales of mainstream brands rose by 80% in the past year but gins in the premium category saw sales increase too by almost a quarter (24.9%). Super premium brands fared even better with sales up by 46.3%
- More than 2m new drinkers – gin has attracted many new drinkers in the past few years and now, about 8.9m Brits now drink it out of home – 2.3m more than 12 months previously
- Proliferation of range – pubs and bars have scrambled to add more gin to their offer and now stock an average of 8.2 brands – more than twice the average of 3.5 just two years earlier
- New brands – no fewer than 247 new gin brands have entered the market in the past five years, accounting for almost a quarter (24%) of all new product development
- Food pairing – while the majority of gin purchased is for drink-led occasions, one in five (20%) consumers drink gin only on food-led visits out – up by four percentage points in a year
- Flavours – two thirds (65%) of consumers agree they enjoy trying new or different spirit brands – nine percentage points higher than the general spirit drinkers’ average
Data from CGA In The Pink report
