Will Rum be the next big thing?

We are frequently asked if we think Rum will be the 'next big thing'.

The answer quite simply is that we just don't know but the current data relating to spirits does make for interesting reading.

One industry wide report shows that sales of Gin may be declining. However, whilst some of the supermarket brands of Gins may be seeing a decline it is not all bad news in the Gin world. An overwhelming percentage of the customers we have spoken to recently have been very keen to know that they were buying a 'Gin Gin' or a 'Proper Gin' and not a 'sweet flavoured spirit'. It seems to us that whilst the Gin market may be shrinking it is the extremes of the trend that may suffered the most. As with most fashions, they come and go whilst what went before stays strong.

When it comes to customer habits, our customers are certainly asking more questions. They are doing their own due diligence checks which is music to our ears. Distillery provenance and scale are clearly important to the buyer when they are paying a premium price.

A recent research article highlights the current trends in alcohol sales and a few headline figures are as follows.

• Smirnoff (owned by Diageo) who are 2nd only to Stella Artois among Britain's Biggest Alcohol Brands have seen sales increase by 4% whilst Gordons who are placed 3rd have seen sales drop by around 15%. In 2019 Gordon's Pink Gin smashed all sales records outselling all other gins. The brand has recently launched a 0% Pink Gin which is expects to boost sales this year.

• Cocktail sales and cocktail ingredients are seeing a 'rising trend'

• Most Whisky including Jack Daniels, Famous Grouse and Bells have all seen a drop in sales

• Whitley Neill sales have dropped by 25% and Greenalls sales have dropped by over 40% whilst sales of Bombay Sapphire dropped by 34%

• Overall Off-Trade sales have decreased whilst the on-trade is bouncing back with sales increasing. The Football World Cup could play a significant part in all areas this summer. Success on the field for the England team will be good news all round.

• There is far less data relating to Rums as they still account for a very small share of the market. However, Captain Morgan and Kraken have shown small volume increases of around 5%.

What is apparent is that there is definitely an increase in interest in rums at the moment. When our current custom built still was installed it was designed with all spirits in mind. Our combination still has a traditional copper pot and 2 columns which each have 3 bubble caps. This enables us to vary our distilling processes to match the needs of each spirit and recipe being distilled.Our own sales at the recent Royal Norfolk Show were up on 2019 by over 20% and much of this was down to the addition of our range of Rums.

In August 2020 we launched our Black Shuck Spiced Rum, Black Shuck White Rum and Black Shuck Honey Rum Liqueur and sales of each of these have seen month on month increases. Last year we were finally ready to launch Black Shuck Dark Rum. Each of our recipes undergoes multiple taste testing processes with various panels to ensure that the product is exactly as we want it to be. It seems that our processes are working as the feedback so far has been superb. Several customers have already commented that it is great to have an authentic, local, dark rum as there isn't anything like that on the shelves at the moment.

Our Rums can be found on shelves in more bars and restaurants every week. Much of this is being driven by customer demand.
Is this a clue that Rum is going to be the next big thing? We still think it is to soon to call. With Gin it is very easy to use different botanicals to create new, interesting and still authentic recipes. It could be a bit trickier with Rums. What is for sure is that we are all in for an interesting and challenging few months ahead.