Vinexpo: Spirits globally are bouncing back

By Erin Smith

Published: 18 June, 2015

Spirits globally are bouncing back according to the latest Rabobank Spirit Quarterly Q3 2015 report, which made Vinexpo's new "Spiritual" zone a big draw for attendees.

The report said: "This quarter, companies continued to see moderate growth in the US and a stable market in Europe. Asian markets finally saw a lift because the Chinese New Year, starting a turnaround from the tough market conditions over the past two years."

The European market has remained relatively stable, with the exception of Irish whisky which is "creating excitement."

At Vinexpo in the new "Spiritual" zone in Hall 3 managing directer of Walsh Whiskey Distillery, Bernard Walsh told attendees that Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing brown spirits in the world.

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By 2020 Irish whiskey sales world wide are forecast to double and by 2030 they are expected to double again. John Harte, the head of First Ireland Spirits Company said: "It's not quite boom time but you could say we are getting there."

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According to a report produced by IWSR research firm for Vinexpo world consumption of spirits is forcast to grow by more than 3% by 2018 to reach 3.2 billion 9L cases.

According to the IWSR report, the most consumed spirit in the world is by far Baiju which is expected to grow 2.7% by 2018 from 1,183.3 million cases to 1,215.3 million cases. The second most consumed spirit is vodka which is expected to remain relatively flat growing just 0.5% from 493.6 million cases to 496.1 million cases. Scotch whisky is supposed see the largest increase with a predicted 8.8% growth from 89.0 million case in 2014 to 96.8 million cases in 2018.

The Rabobank report saw "a marked improvement in the outlook for cognac" which is benefiting overall from an overall improvement across Asia. The cognac market as well as other spirits are improving as China spirits markets are "showing signs of improvement" following the past two challenging years that have impacted big spirit producers like Diageo.

"Diageo's results were among the least favourable, missing forecast in both value and volume terms due to challenges across major markets including Asia, Latin America and Europe. In the US market- traditionally a strong spot for Diageo- the company reported positive results, but continues to lose share," said the report.

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