Exclusive: U.S. Spirits Will Outperform Beer And Wine For The Fourth Consecutive Year in 2015
October 23, 2015The U.S. spirits market is expected to expand once again this year, albeit by a modest 1.3% in volume terms, representing its 20th consecutive annual gain, according to Impact Databank. Wine is projected to increase by a mere 0.2% in the U.S. in 2015, while beer is expected to register a 0.5% decline. Most of the spirits market’s growth can be attributed to projected solid gains from flavored whiskies, Cognac, Bourbon, Irish whiskey, super-premium Tequila and single malt Scotch whisky. Declines are expected from blended whiskies, gin, rum, imported vodka and pre-mixed cocktails.
Fireball is projected to become one of the five largest-selling labels in the spirits market this year, and the fastest ever to reach 5 million cases overall. Other fast-growing brands include Crown Royal, primarily due to its Regal Apple line extension, and two vodka brands: New Amsterdam, which is projected to be among the 10 largest-selling brands in just its fourth full year on the market; Tito’s, which is expected to become the third-largest-selling domestic vodka brand in 2015 (behind only Smirnoff and New Amsterdam); and Hennessy, with strong growth primarily from its VS variant.
Other brands marking significant milestones include: Svedka, which in 2015 is projected to become the market’s largest-selling imported vodka brand ahead of Absolut (which has been number-one since 1985); Crown Royal, which is expected to be the U.S. market’s number-one brand overall in value terms this year (ahead of Smirnoff), marking the first time since the mid-70s that a whisky brand will lead the market by value; Fireball, which is expected to join seven other spirit brands valued at over $1 billion at retail; and Captain Morgan, which surpassed Bacardi as the largest rum brand in value terms last year.
Impact Databank’s full report on the U.S. spirits market has been released. For more information and to order The U.S. Spirits Market: IMPACT Databank Review and Forecast, as well as other exclusive Shanken reports, click here.
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Tagged : Impact Databank, spirits
