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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/114508
Domestic table wines now represent 71.7% of the overall U.S. wine market. While a majority of the sales volume is comprised of wines selling for less than $10 per bottle, the greatest percentage growth is in the higher-end price segments. And industry observers say that as the economy continues to recover, premium and superpremium wine sales should pick up. Champagne & sparkling wine kept pace with 2011's gains, up by 3.6% in 2012, to more than 15.8 million 9-liter cases. This is the 11th straight year of gains for this segment, and it's approaching the highpoint of sparkling sales of more than 17 million cases regularly seen in the 1980s. The recent popularity of prosecco is playing a significant role in this growth. Even smaller in size is the dessert & fortified wine category, which declined another 0.7% in 2012, while vermouth dropped 4.9%. BRANDS MAINTAINING GROWTH So, what is the rationale for publishing our Growth Brands lists? To quote what we've said here before, "There are beverage alcohol products in every category and at every price point that, for any number of reasons, have either lagged behind or outpaced their respective competitors. Often, a combination of elements—among them solid distribution and retail support, supplier resources, marketing creativity, product heritage and brand equity, the right economic environment, a solid product in the bottle, advantageous price positioning and sometimes just plain luck—help lead to product success." While the great Recession of late-2007 through mid-2009 weakened many high-image, high-priced brands, many of them have recovered their sales momentum as well as their caché. On the other hand, newer brands have thrived, and many others that adjusted to new market realities and maintained some growth, as well as a variety of additional brands that continue to make positive strides with consumers and retailers alike. Those are the brands that appear on the following pages. And, as we've said in the past, though evaluating category consumption trends can provide the big picture, drilling down to actual brand performance provides the details. Thus, the reason for our annual Growth Brands report, which uses the most up-to-date industry results to highlight the wine and spirits brands with noteworthy growth over the past several years. (The September 2013 issue of Cheers will publish Beer Growth Brand results.) SPIRITS: Fast Track Brands T he Fast Track Growth Brands category includes the topperforming brands, percentage-wise, during the past four years. The criteria are demanding: A wine or spirit must have maintained double-digit percentage growth over each of those four years while selling at least 100,000 9-liter cases this past year. Based on the Beverage Information Group's 2012 statistics, 21 spirits brands made the Fast Track list, three more than last year's total of 18. This year there are six new Fast Track spirits members (the three brands from last year that fell off the list all moved to the Established Growth Brand category). Overall, there are six vodkas numbered among the 21 Fast Track brands, with four of the top-five brands being vodkas. The first, Burnett's, leads the Fast Track, having broken through the 2 million case mark in 2012. With more than two dozen flavors, the value-priced vodka counts Candy Cane and Maple Syrup among its newer flavors. The superpremium grape-based vodka Ciroc, imported from France, increased sales by an eye-popping 700,000 cases last year (up 53.0%), also eclipsing the 2 million case mark for the first time. Besides its original expression, the brand's portfolio includes Red Berry, Coconut and Peach flavors. Its connection with hip-hop star and entrepreneur Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has also continued to help boost the brand's sales. Another value-priced vodka, UV, gained by 33.3% to reach 1.6 million cases last year. UV also features a wide range of flavored versions, with its latest launch being UV Candy Bar vodka. Tito's Handmade, the above-premium-priced vodka from Texas, 28 | MARCH 2013 returned to the Fast Track, showing another year of amazing growth of 46.0% to 850,000 cases last year. Another Fast Track repeater, mid-priced Platinum 7X Vodka, distilled seven times, saw sales increase 19.5% last year, to 655,000 cases. New, refreshed packaging helped drive sales of the brand. The final vodka listed here is Pearl Vodka, from Canada, which also returned to the Fast Track after another impressive year. The premium-priced brand increased its sales in 2012 by 27.1% to 216,000 cases. WHISKEY A GO GO In a welcome development, there are six different whiskey brands listed in the Fast Track category—more than have ever been noted here. Two of them include the Fast Track repeaters: Jameson Irish Whiskey, which continued its tremendous sales performance last year, gaining nearly 300,000 9-liter cases, a 20.4% increase, to more than 1.6 million 9-liter cases. The brand continues to dominate the Irish whiskey category and is still one of the fastest-growing whiskey products with significant sales, percentage-wise, in the U.S. market. The second Fast Track repeater is Pendleton, a superpremiumpriced Canadian whisky, which grew to a respectable 162,000 cases in 2012. The remaining whiskies are all newcomers to the Fast Track, though well-known in the U.S. Fireball, for one, exploded in the market in 2012, more than doubling its sales to 770,000 9-liter cases. The 66-proof cinnamon-flavored whiskey has carved a niche for itself as a popular shooter. www.cheersonline.com