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(the combined dollar total of off- and on-premise sales) actually outpaced vol- ume gains in 2010, increasing 2.7% to $65.8 billion. This is an important indi- cator, which underlines the renewed interest in higher-margin, higher-priced products among spirits consumers. In fact, the latest DISCUS report notes that sales of high-end spirits in the U.S. rose 10.9% in 2010, a vast improvement over the previous two years, but still not approaching sales levels seen before the financial crisis. The same holds true in the wine segment. Total U.S. wine consumption increased by 1.7% in 2010, to just under 302 million 9-liter cases. This more than doubles 2009’s 0.8% volume gains. However, the real momentum in the wine segment in 2010 can be seen in the overall revenue figures, which show a 2.4% increase to $26.8 bil- lion. These results contrast sharply with 2009 overall wine revenue, which declined by 3.2%. Once again, this reflects a growing momentum toward consumption of higher-priced wines in 2010. Still, there remains a vibrant market in large-size box wines (3-, 4- and 5-liter) as well IDENTIFYING THE GROWTH BRANDS T he four categories of Growth Brands are designed to organize the wine and spirits brands demonstrating notable growth in a meaningful way, so as to help retailers, restaurateurs and the industry at large to discern the existing and emerging trends and tap into the opportunities. The criteria remain the same for distilled spirits and wine. FAST TRACK BRANDS Criteria: The brand must have exceeded 100,000 9-liter cases in 2010, with double-digit growth over each of the past four years. All brands must be at least five years of age. RISING STARS Criteria: The brand must be less than five full years of age, and must have exhibited notable growth over the past few years. ESTABLISHED GROWTH BRANDS Criteria: The brand must be a top seller, moving a minimum of 400,000 9-liter cases annually, and must have grown moderately or substantially over each of the past four years. COMEBACK BRANDS Criteria: Recognizes brands of significant volume that saw a sales decline in 2008, but which rebounded in 2010. This increase, however, must have resulted in total sales that are at least equal to or greater than the 2008 sales total. 16 as wines priced in the $6-$10 range. And while sales of above-$10 have been increasing, superpremium wine sales still have a way to go to recovery. Spirits Overview or beverage alcohol professionals, vodka is the gift that keeps on giv- ing. The huge spirits category rose another 5.8% in 2010, following a 5.7% increase in 2009. Overall, the vodka segment added almost 3.5 million 9-liter cases to its total of approxi- mately 61.9 million cases. Indeed, vodka now represents 32.1% of all spirits consumed in the U.S. New vodka expressions abound, with flavors and brands from around the world still proliferating. The reasons remain primarily the easy mixability of the spirit and the con- tinued popularity of cocktails made with vodka. We’ve asked this question before: Where are retailers and bar operators putting all these bottles? Obviously, they are making space because there seems to be little slowing the category down. F The second-largest spirits category, rum, also saw consumption rise in 2010. Still riding the popularity of the Mojito, the category activity also includes new spiced and flavored rums as well as a variety of aged expressions. Overall, rum gained 2.2% to more than 25.5 million 9-liter cases. Tequila also increased last year, with consumption up a respectable 3.7% to about 11.6 million cases. Largely driven by the Margarita, the category’s consumption trends also take into account the various levels – from premium to superpremium to ultra-premium – of a brand’s portfolio. American whiskey is another category that saw sales volume rise in 2010, both for blends and straights. American straight whiskey, the higher-profile, higher-priced seg- ment, gained 2.2% to more than 15.2 million 9-liter cases; the smaller blends segment moved ahead by 1.0% to more than 5.2 million cases. Total American whiskey was up 1.9% to more than 20.5 million cases. Other good news comes from the smallest imported whiskey category: Irish and Other whiskies. They jumped ahead by 21.7%, but to a very modest total of 1.43 million cases, driven primarily by the ongoing success of Jameson Irish Whiskey. For their part, overall Scotch whisky declined 1.5% in 2010 to 8.7 million cases; and Canadian whisky decreased by a slight 0.4% to more than 15.5 million cases. The third-largest spirits category, cordials& liqueurs, saw total consumption fall 1.8% to 19.7 mil- lion cases. Also losing ground was the brandy & cognac category. The higher-end cognac segment actually eked out a small gain, while domestic brandies declined, a StateWays  www.stateways.com  March/April 2011

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Editor's Note
• Dateline
• Spotlight on Minnesota
• Growth Brands
• Logging On
• Scotch
• Mixing It Up
• Ad Index