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Gin in the pink

It said gin had been the primary driver within spirits over the last year, increasing volume share from 12.4% to 18.3% in the on-trade. Gin sales were up 51.6% over the year, compared to other spirits like vodka, which was down 5.5%.

UK drinkers opting for gin have grown from 5.6m last year to to 8.9m, which means gin has overtaken vodka, which has slipped from 7.8m drinkers in 2018 to 7.1m this year.

Operators have responded by stocking an average of 8.2 different gin brands, compared to just 2.5 in 2015.

And CGA said pink gin was the “driving force behind gins soaring growth” with pink accounting for 82% of total gin growth. It added that flavoured gins were becoming more prevalent in the mainstream gin market, whereas non-flavoured gin has “maintained its dominance in the more premium segments” of the market.

In the on-trade, CGA said one in six gin launches over the past four years have been flavoured, while of the 247 new gin brands to enter the GB on-trade since 2014, 44 are flavoured.

It also said 5.1m drinkers would opt for a pink gin if it was available, compared to 2.2m a year ago. And that pink gin drinkers are usually younger and eat and drink out more than average gin drinkers.

“Pink gin has become and will remain a staple of an outlets gin offer,” said CGA. “The monumental growth is coming from consumers who weren’t previously drinking gin and they are sold on appearance just as much as taste. Pink gin is a craze that is not going to stop anytime soon, as there is so much room for innovation, especially with flavours.”

In May, cider specialist Kopparberg became the latest to jump onto the trend by releasing a pink strawberry and lime flavoured gin.

• On-Trade
• Gin
• Pink Gin