Although the Italian spirits market overall remains sluggish, consumers are showing an increasing preference for white spirits, with sales of white rum, gin and clear vodka all growing strongly in 2002.
According to research from beverage industry analysts Canadean rum & cane spirit has provided the most dynamic growth in recent years, although it is not yet big enough to be considered a major category. In 2002 rum & cane spirit sales advanced by an excellent 24%.
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The category is dominated by the three leading brands, all of which are foreign and account for a combined 77% share of the market. In addition to the success of white rum, the category has also been boosted by the increasing popularity of dark and aged rums as after dinner drinks.
The most significant category is bitters, which apart from a brief revival in 2001, has been declining for a number of years. Bitters have traditionally enjoyed strong after dinner consumption but have come under increasing pressure from sweet liqueurs and dark rum.
The second largest category, brandy, grew very slightly with the strong performance of foreign brandy and Cognac helping to offset the continued decline of Italian brandy. This said, brandy only tends to appeal to the narrow audience of mature males and the growing popularity of dark rum could pose a significant threat.
Third placed liqueurs, cocktails and specialities held firm, increasing by around 0.5%. Both the sambuca and cream sub-categories enjoyed a strong year in 2002, with sales improving by over 7% and 11% respectively.
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By GlobalData
One point confirmed by the report is the strength of domestic brands. Of the ten best sellers overall, eight are Italian owned. The only exceptions are an imported flavoured vodka and a foreign bitter. The dominance of bitters is further underlined by the fact that six of the ten most popular brands come from the category.
Despite high public debt and a restructuring of the banking sector, Italy’s economy should remain healthy in the short term – underpinned by strong product design, textiles, household appliances, tourism and fashion industries. Canadean predicts that the spirits market will increase by around 1% in 2003 and 2% by 2005.
