The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has named rum as the UK’s ‘drink of lockdown’, after its latest figures showed that the spirit reported the biggest growth across all alcohol products during the lockdown.
According to the WSTA, rum sales jumped up 38% year-on-year to £119m during the April-June 2020 period, equal to an extra 1.3 million bottles sold. Over the last 12 months overall, rum has seen volumes grow 8% and it is now worth £430m, placing it behind whisky, vodka and gin in value terms.
During the April-June quarter, the biggest growth was in the flavoured & spiced rum category, which jumped up 53% in volume terms to 3.4 million bottles. These variants also outsold white rums for the first time.
Meanwhile, gin saw volumes grow by 22% and value sales rise by 27% during the lockdown, despite off-trade slowing. Including flavoured gins, total gin sales over the last 12 months rose by 15% to £1.1bn.
Off-trade sales were helped by the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants – total alcohol sales in supermarkets and shops surged 35% in volume terms over the lockdown and 8% over 12 months. However, this growth did not offset the on-trade slump – total alcohol sales slumped 20% by volume.
Miles Beale, Chief Executive of the WSTA, said: “Our latest numbers show that rum is lockdown’s champion, as the experimentation Brits liked to enjoy in pubs and bars carried over to their homes. However, this also underlines the importance of on-trade venues as the shop window for new innovations in the spirits category.
“With news just last week of further restrictions being placed on the hospitality sector, the climate for our distillers, many of whom are SMEs and have come to represent such a great British success story of recent years, continues to get tougher.
“Last week, we welcomed the fact that hospitality venues forced to close in this latest round of measures will receive financial support and that retail will remain open under all scenarios, but we continue to express our serious concerns that – once again – those who supply the hospitality sector are being overlooked. They need access to the same levels of support and this includes our world-beating great British distillers.”
NAM Implications:
- Key issue for suppliers with access to these stats.
- …has to be the benefit of comparison with their own sales by category.
- …and the output of some ‘what ifs’ arising.
- (Personally, I have never fully recovered from my first exposure to Rum…
- …via six Rum & Blackcurrant ‘chasers’ as a guest at my first stag party, many moons ago)
