The UK's gin boom is showing no signs of slowing down, with record sales of the spirit seen last Christmas, according to the latest market report form the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).
Gin sales in the UK were worth £413 million in the run up to Christmas 2017, representing growth of 28% compared to the previous festive season.
The WSTA says that growing popularity, combined with the rapid growth in UK distilleries, and the increasing number of gin brands, helped 2017 break all previous records in both volume and value sales.
Overall, 51 million bottles of gin were sold in the UK last year, representing volume growth of 27%, and worth almost £1.4 billion.
This is the equivalent of every adult in the country buying a bottle of gin.
Continued Growth
Across the retail and catering channels, sales of gin in UK supermarkets, shops, pubs, bars, and restaurants all beat previous sales records last year.
The greatest growth was seen in supermarkets and shops in the last twelve weeks of the year, with gin sales growing by 38% in value, and by 28% in volume.
British exports of the popular spirit also experienced record growth, hitting £530 million in sales for the first time ever.
The are now approximately 315 distilleries around the country, with over 100 brands of British gin on the market, helping to fuel national growth.
“We were amazed by the growth of gin in 2016, but 2017 sales of the quintessentially British spirit have surpassed all records again," said Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
