Gin is rapidly becoming a more important product for supermarkets across the UK, as sales of the spirit exceeded the £1 billion mark for the first time during 2015, according to statistics recently published by market research firm Mintel, thedrinksbusiness.com reports.
A key reason for this ‘new dawn’ for the drink, as it has been dubbed within the industry, is its rise in popularity among younger drinkers. Mintel says 42 per cent of the UK’s populace between the ages of 18 and 34 within the last twelve months have consumed it, compared to 27 per cent of people aged 45 or older.
Sales of gin, in terms of value, have risen by 25 per cent since 2012. It is expected that by the end of 2015, the UK will have consumed 29 million litres of it, with one-third of adults having had it at least once over the course of the year.
It is furthermore anticipated that the UK gin market will be worth about £1.31 billion by 2020, with no signs of its growth abating.
Mintel’s senior drinks analyst, Chris Wisson, said, “The strong performance of gin continues to stand out within the spirits market, and is widely seen as the most sophisticated type of white spirit by category users.”
“One of gin’s sobriquets is ‘Mother’s Ruin’ and the drink still has certain associations with older drinkers, contributing to it being likely to be seen as an older person’s drink and the least likely as a young person’s drink,” he added. “However, our research indicates that gin is in fact now most likely to be drunk by younger consumers, suggesting that it has a chance to forge a dynamic image and move into even more innovative areas.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
