BROWN SPIRITS: RUM REPORT


Rum working hard to demystify its often-hidden qualities


Rum is tapping into the premiumisation trend, but Luke Barras-Hill questions how the category is simplifying consumers’ path to purchase at a time when its whisky and gin counterparts are flourishing.


T


he 10 largest spirits brands in travel retail account for 36% of the industry’s total spirits


market and 45% of the volumes held by the top 100 brands, according to the most recent IWSR Top 100 Travel Retail Spirits Brands. Within the list, rum features


once (Bacardí), although it is worth pointing out the data was more than a year old at the time of writing and the picture could change. While case volumes may surge


or soften, premiumisation in the brown spirits – and rum – segment continues and is showing little signs of slowing. “This is a trend we will continue


to explore in global travel retail,” comments Lizette Garcia, Regional Director Duty Free, North & Central America/Caribbean, Stoli Group. “More brands are launching


additional premium spirits in the rum category as well as others.”


Brands ‘must do more’ Indeed, travel retail liquor appears to be doing a good job at translating visitors into buyers. According to a recent NPD


Travel Retail Nationality Tracker, liquor’s conversion rate (49.4%) ranks only second to confectionery & fine food (50.3%). However, year-on-year


liquor spending has slid by €7 per pax against a 6.3% increase in global passenger numbers. So has the premiumisation


‘trend’ reached its tipping point? “No I don’t think so,” states Chase Donaldson, President, Chase International, which counts Botran Aged Rums in its drinks portfolio. “Things are starting to go more artisanal. It is the millennials looking


MAY 2019


for new and better tastes. Instead of just looking at age, which is obviously important, they are looking for what makes it unique and different, like small batch and single barrel.” The NPD Travel Retail liquor


research cites domestic pressures as blurring the lines with travel retail, as consumers no longer view quality and cost savings as mutually exclusive. Gautom Menon, Founder &


Chief Brand Officer at Wild Tiger Rum believes relegating the category to a simple choice between volume and price to help define its ‘premium’ credentials is unhelpful. “It’s the quality and


provenance that should matter most,” he tells TRBusiness. “I have never been a fan of the classifications


‘premium’, ‘super-premium’


and ‘uber premium’. “There are some quality rums out


there from Jamaica, Grenada and Mauritius which are under the $25 mark but are worth a lot more in terms of the standout liquid. Gebr. Heinemann says Bacardí,


Havana Club and Flor de Caña remain popular consumer choices, but rum does not account for a huge part of its sales. “If you include Bacardí as white


rum, it might be 2-3%,” comments Rüdiger Stelkens, Purchasing Director


Confectionery and Fine Food. “Rum is not that big at the moment


– it is still a small niche but could become bigger. There is definitely interest, but I think there needs to be much more done from the brand owners for the category.”


Education, education… Part of the challenge lies in understanding. Scotch has achieved


‘value’,


“[Spiced rums and flavoured rums] are starting to tilt their hat to craft, punching the price up, but giving consumers real in-depth knowledge of where the liquid has come from.”


Claire Keene, Global Travel Retail Manager, Atom Brands


TRBUSINESS 129 Liquor, Tobacco,


Left: Ableforth’s Rumbullion! Explorers’ Edition 1 litre.


Above: Heritage, storytelling, craft and interactivity are bringing rum brands to life.


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