StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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35 StateWays ■ www.stateways.com ■ March/April 2015 Producers see similar popularity trends. "Sobieski's most popular fl avors are Orange, Raspberry and Citron, which is similar to the rest of the category," says Guillant. REGIONS AND SEASONS "The top fl avors do vary by market," says Bonchick at 375 Park Avenue Spirits. However, the core top sellers within the Van Gogh Vodka portfolio are Double Espresso, Acai-Blueberry, Cool Peach and Espresso. "There are defi nitely regional variations for fl avors," Dolenga says. Pinnacle has taken advantage of that with some smaller launches, as well as seasonal fl avors. He cites a King Cake variant that sells out in Louisiana during Marde Gras. Texas is big on Pin- nacle Grapefruit. "There will always be fl avors that pop regionally but not at a national scale. We have fl exibility and ability to be speedy to capitalize on those." That includes limited-time offerings such as Pinnacle Pumpkin Pie in the fall. WHISKEY REBELLION Perhaps inspired by the vodka segment, whiskey producers have started their own fl avor revolution. Flavors such as honey, cherry, maple, vanilla and cinnamon are intended to lure younger drink- ing age consumers into the brown spirits fold. That's the same customer targeted by fl avored vodkas, and it seems to be having an impact. "Brown spirits are making a huge comeback with both the con- sumers and mixologists and vodka has suffered because of that," Bonchick says. "Interestingly enough, it is fl avored vodka that has helped drive the explosive growth of fl avored whiskeys," posits Pawlik at Svedka. Flavored whiskeys are very popular at Bayway right now, Leighton says. "I would guess that's drawing the same customer as fl avored vodkas." At Davis Liquor, Young sees a similar phe- nomenon: "Flavored whiskey is capturing that vodka demographic a little bit." "Flavored whiskeys have been able to blur lines between cate- gories and show how consumers are looking to try new trends and are willing to experiment with their drinking choices," points out Burke at Phillips Distilling. Clapp at Sazerac is still hopeful regarding the future of the cat- egory and not fazed by fl avored whiskey's recent surge in popular- ity. "No doubt there will continue to be innovation in vodka," she says. "I'm certain we'll see more fl avors, yet at a slower pace than previous years. Despite the attention that whiskey has received, consumers are still drinking all types of vodka. We remain very passionate about vodka and new possibilities." FLAVOR FATIGUE Despite all the recent launches, it seems that the rapid pace of pro- liferation has slowed somewhat, and perhaps sales as well. Some would argue that innovation became too outlandish. Retailers have had increasing diffi culty shoehorning all the new entrants on already saturated shelves. That is being exacerbated by another whiskey entering the fl avor fray. "Right now, we're seeing the fl avor segment decline, most likely due to an over-saturated market and fl avor fatigue," Bonchick says. "There were far too many fl avors introduced in a short time pe- riod, and although some had a modicum of success, they were short lived." At the recent reveal of 2014 industry statistics from the Distilled Spirits Council, chief economist David Ozgo reported that sales of fl avored vodka had slowed. However, traditional vodka volumes were up 3.7%, according to DISCUS. "While the growth of fl avored vodka has slowed over the last 12 months, the unfl avored vodka category is keeping pace with the rest of the industry,' echoes Essig at Smirnoff. "It's the tipping point. My theory is that at some point the market will explode because there are one too many fl avors," quips retailer Leighton. At Bayway, vodka fl avors have hit their peak and are on a slight downward trend. "There are all these crazy fl avors, like Cinnabon; it tastes good but it's based on a mall bakery concept." "The spectrum of vodka fl avors ran the gamut from cereals to confectionary to fi sh to tobacco; the category started to border on the absurd," Bonchick says. "I wouldn't say that any given fl avor is too wacky, too crazy, if there are consumers with an interest in those fl avors," Dolenga counters. Pinnacle will continue to innovate, he adds, because consumers are naturally variety-seeking. But, Dolenga notes that the brand has launched fewer fl avors year to year than it did a few years ago. Retailers are using discretion to deal with the infl ux. "We stock all the new ones," Mulvihill says; "See what sticks, what doesn't and keep the inventory moving." At Davis Liquor, "I try to stock just what sells. If a fl avor doesn't sell, I put it on clearance and get rid of that stock," Young says. Dachis at Merwin Liquors agrees. "It's up to us retailers to weed out the non-sellers." LEADING BRANDS OF FLAVORED VODKAS New Amsterdam Peach E & J Gallo Pinnacle Whipped Beam Inc. Ciroc Peach Diageo Absolut Citron Pernod Ricard New Amsterdam Berry E & J Gallo Smirnoff Raspberry Diageo Ciroc Red Berry Diageo UV Blue Raspberry Phillips Distilling Three Olives Cherry Proximo Spirits Smirnoff Vanilla Diageo Burnett's Cherry Heaven Hill Distilleries Burnett's Citrus Heaven Hill Distilleries Ciroc Coconut Diageo Smirnoff Citrus Diageo Absolut Mandrin Pernod Ricard Smirnoff Orange Diageo Stoli Razberi William Grant & Sons Firefl y Sweet Tea Sazerac Three Olives Grape Proximo Spirits Pinnacle Kiwi Strawberry Beam Inc. (*) Based on NABCA data.