The rum category
features a wide
variety of
offerings, with
spiced and
flavored leading
the way.
By Jack Robertiello
hen trying to describe the rum market today, the correct question to ask
is, "Which rum?"
With classic white rum, it's business as
usual, the basic and most popular style of the
sugar cane spirit holding its own in the marketplace. In the world of flavored rums, new
iterations and combinations continue to
arrive, mimicking what's has been going on
for some time in the vodka category and
enlivening drinks and drink-making possibilities. Considered either a subset of flavors or
a sub-category all its own, when it comes to
spiced rum, attention is being paid to a new
world of tweaks, especially in terms of higher proof and higher price, with continued
brand extensions and introductions expected
as the style grows in popularity. Finally, for
aged and superpremium rums, long promoted by spirit fans as the next big thing, it's still
a waiting game, mostly.
The results in terms of sales among the
leading rum brands were generally positive
last year; according to numbers gathered by
the Beverage Information Group for 2012,
the category overall was up 2.1%. Category
leader Bacardi inched up 0.5% to more than
9.5 million cases, while leading spiced rum
Captain Morgan grew 1.2% to hit more than
5.5 million cases. Malibu grew 2.1% to 1.78
million cases, fourth place Castillo dropped
4% to 849,000 cases, while Cruzan, now the
sixth largest rum brand, grew 7.9% to
782,000 cases. Spiced rums Admiral Nelson
(up 10.3% to 800,000 cases and fifth place)
W
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StateWays I www.stateways.com I July/August 2013
