Cocktail craze responsible for soaring sales of gin at Waitrose

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 19 August, 2016

Sales of gin at Waitrose are up 17% on last year thanks to a new wave of millennials discovering gin-based cocktails.

The high street retailer revealed that the younger generation are behind much of the increase, as well as the on-going popularity of classic G&Ts.

The supermarket's top selling three spirits are currently all gins, with one in every three bottles of spirit sold at Waitrose being gin.

Gin is now more popular than Pimms, with customers more likely to opt for a gin and tonic compared to Pimms and lemonade during the summer months.

John Vine, Waitrose spirits buyer, said: "Customers are discovering that gin lends itself to being shaken up with more than just tonic. In fact, there are more classic cocktails made with gin than with any other spirit thanks to the vast diversity of flavours available. The innovation happening in the gin world, especially with artisanal distilleries, makes is a very exciting time for gin lovers."

So far this year, Waitrose has added six new gins to its already range, bringing the total up to 43 - the most of any UK supermarket according to Waitrose.

In December 2015, Mintel revealed that over half of gin drinkers are under 35, as the trend for gin based cocktails rocketed last year.

This is in line with a number of new artisan London-based distilleries which have opened up in the capital in recent years.

These gins are distilled using botanicals such as juniper, coriander, almond, orris root and angelica, with a few secret ingredients aiming to set them gins apart.

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