Britain's Biggest Alcohol Brands

in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands

the Battle for the booze aisles

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Z_g1728_BBAB Intro feature_WEB.indd 46 13/07/2017 15:33 in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands the Battle for the booze aisles The big guns of booze are going to war over dwindling shelf space as a wave of agile and on-trend craft brands advances into their heartland. Who’s outgunning whom?

Rob Brown

elcome to the revolution: a com- more than 70 mainstream beer & cider lines. volume items but also looking to something ing of age for cra booze. Sales But here’s the rub: Britain’s top 100 alcohol other than price that makes them stand out.” of Britain’s top 20 cra brands brands are actually in better shape than they Hence all the range resets. Asda says it has Whave surged 71.9% to £124.7m; were this time a year ago. Combined sales now dedicated 10% of its existing  oorspace their combined growth stands have grown 2.3%, pushing their value past to cra beer in a review that saw more than at £58.2m. That’s almost twice the growth of the £9bn mark. The fastest growing individ- 100 new cra beer lines listed and an extra 40 Britain’s 20 biggest booze brands, which have ual brands are not cra ; they are big global cra spirits, including gins, rye whiskies, ver- seen combined sales inch up just 0.6%, put- brands. So is this really a revolution, or is all mouths and tequilas. Waitrose, meanwhile, ting an extra £30.3m through the tills. this talk just a way of enticing drinkers to pay has added another 25 speciality beers to its BrewDog, the brewer that swaggered out of more for their booze? And who’s outgunning roster, taking its total SKU count to 95. Sales Aberdeenshire a decade ago to wage war with whom in Britain’s booze aisles? are up a third in the past year . the mainstream brands that it says “treat beer Be in no doubt: the booze market has been Meanwhile, gin at Waitrose is up more than drinkers like brain dead zombies and vilify turned on its head in the past decade. And not 20%, driven largely by cra products. For the creativity and competition”, has stormed into just in terms of the brands people are buying,  rst time, gin is Waitrose’s bestselling spirit, the top 100 on 170.5% growth worth an extra but how they are viewing alcohol and where, says spirits buyer John Vine. “The fact that £24.4m. It’s now Britain’s 65th biggest drinks when and how they are deciding to drink it. sales have now overtaken other spirits shows brand. Legions of smaller brands – among Our research shows that 41% of Brits are now just how popular it’s become,” he says. “We’re them Hendrick’s gin, The Kraken rum and actively trying to curb their drinking, up from starting to see a change in the way people Innis & Gunn beer – are lining up to break 33% a year ago [Harris Interactive]. More are enjoy gin, with many sipping it as an aperitif. into the top 100 in coming years. drinking at home, rather than in the pub. That’s why local cra suppliers, who tend to Some of Britain’s biggest brands have This means they’re making more consid- enhance their gin with unique  avours and been ousted from the shelves to make way ered choices. “People are indeed drinking aromas, really appeal to our customers.” for these newcomers. In March, Tesco more less, but they’re drinking more premium Many of these brands are Davids next to the than halved the number of Heineken UK lines products,” says Helen Stares, client busi- Goliaths of the top 100. Gin brands such as it stocks to clear space for higher value prod- ness partner at Nielsen, which produced Sipsmith and Caorunn, brewers William Bros ucts. The other mults, convenience players the top 100 in partnership with The Grocer. and Camden Town and US whiskies Bulleit and discounters have also cut back on tradi- “As competition hots up between the retail- and Woodford Reserve (all are in double-digit tional brands. Last month, Sainsbury’s culled ers, they’re competing on price on the high growth) are stealing share thanks to two

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Z_g1728_BBAB Intro feature_WEB.indd 47 13/07/2017 15:31 in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands

key assets: the speed at which they are bringing exciting new products to market and the stories they tell about the quality, cra smanship and prov- enance behind their products. The master is BrewDog. “The growth we’re seeing is driven by distribution and more people coming back to buy more o en,” BRITAIN’S BIGGEST ALCOHOL BRANDS says head of sales Steve Ricketts. “We’ve RANK BRAND SALES CHANGE developed our range through both new beers up/down £m % £m and new pack formats to cater for many more  → Stella Artois . –. –. consumer occasions. This has not only had a  → Smirnoff . . . positive e ect on our BrewDog business but  → Foster’s . –. –. on the whole cra industry.”  ↑  Budweiser . . . Similarly, the explosion in cra gin has  ↓  Carling . . . driven growth for mainstream players. All  ↓  Hardys . –. –. four of the top 100 gin brands – Gordon’s (9),  ↑  Strongbow . . . Bombay (36), Greenall’s (73) and Tanqueray  ↑  Jack Daniel’s . . . (74) – are up in double digits. Diageo’s  ↑  Gordon’s . . .  ↑  Grouse . . .  ↓  Carlsberg . –. –. Who’s in?  ↓  Echo Falls . –. –.  ↓  Blossom Hill . –. –. 65 (135)  → Glen’s . –. –.  → Bell’s . –. –. BrewDog ↑ .%  ↑  Kopparberg . . . 74 (99)  ↑  Kronenbourg . . .  → McGuigan . . . Tanqueray ↑ .%  ↑  Corona . . . 88 (-)  ↑  Barefoot . . .  ↓  Russian Standard . . . Amstel ↑ .%  ↑  Peroni . . . 95 (120)  ↓  Bacardi . –. –.  ↓  Casillero Del Diablo . . . Birra Moretti ↑ .%  ↑  Captain Morgan . . . 99 (110)  ↓  Baileys . . .  ↑  San Miguel . . . Old Mout ↑ .%  ↓  Guinness . . .  ↑  Isla Negra . . . Gordon’s brand has enjoyed the greatest  ↓  Jacob’s Creek . . . growth, with sales surging 12.6% to £213m.  ↓  Gallo . –. –. “The proliferation of gin listings in the  ↑  Campo Viejo . . . retailers has driven higher visibility and  ↓  Yellow Tail . . . space in-store for gin, and this is bene ting  ↑  Coors Light . . . Gordon’s,” says Diageo o -trade sales direc-  ↓  Beck’s . . . tor Guy Dodwell. “Some areas, like standard  ↑  Bombay . . . lagers,  avoured ciders and blended whisky,  ↓  Whyte & Mackay . –. –. have become squeezed in-store and other  → Wolf Blass . –. –. areas have expanded considerably.”  ↓  Grant’s . –. –. The list of this year’s biggest losers bears  ↓  John Smith’s . –. –. this out. For the second year in a row,  ↑  Heineken . . . Carlsberg (11) has suffered most, losing  ↑  Villa Maria . . . £67.6m as it endured more delistings a er  ↑  Hen . . . Tesco’s decision to bin it in 2015. Blossom Hill  ↓  Kumala . –. –. (13), Foster’s (3), Lindeman’s (51) and Bell’s  ↑  Courvoisier . . . (15) are the next biggest losers . They may  ↓  Tennent’s . . . seem disparate, but these brands have two  ↑  Brancott Estate . . . things in common: they’re all at the lower end  ↓  Bulmers . –. –. of the price spectrum and, arguably, little dif-  ↑  Magners . . . ferentiates them from their rivals.  ↓  Oyster Bay . –. –. Wine has been the scene of one of the big- Methodology: Britain’s 100 Biggest Alcohol Brands uses data from Nielsen’s ScanTrack service, which monitors weekly sales from a nationwide network of EPoS checkout scanners plus some manual audits. Coverage is taken from grocery multiples (including gest culls, with some retailers’ branded SKU their dark-store sales), co-ops, multiple o licences, multiple forecourts, convenience multiples and symbols. The data is for count having fallen by as much as a  h. the period MAT to 22 April 2017. Note: This year, sales  gures include all variants for total brand - ie Stella Artois includes lager and cider; Smirno includes vodka and RTDS. Copyright: Report compiled by Nielsen, exclusively for The Grocer/William Reed “For a number of years we saw an increase Business Media. No reproduction in full or in part for commercial purposes is permitted without prior consent of Nielsen. in wine brands on shelf, with similar

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Z_g1728_BBAB Intro feature_WEB.indd 48 13/07/2017 15:31

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price points and similar propo- sitions all  ghting for the same shop- pers,” says Caroline Thompson-Hill, marketing director at Treasury Wine Estates, distributor of Blossom Hill and Lindeman’s, among others. “As a result, retailers have undergone range rationalisa- tion. But it’s led to opportunities for more BRITAIN’S BIGGEST ALCOHOL BRANDS premium wines and wines with di erent RANK BRAND SALES CHANGE propositions.” up/down £m % £m This is a crucial point. While space is being  ↓  Lindeman’s . –. –. squeezed for mainstream booze sectors, some  ↓  Three Barrels . . . of the biggest brands are still managing to  ↑  Absolut . . . drive staggering growth. Some are doing it  ↑  Thatchers . . . by selling at a lower price than the brands  ↑  I Heart . . . that are losing shelf space. That Carling (5)  ↑  Desperados . . . is now the cheapest lager in the top 100 has  ↑  Henry Westons . . . helped the brand defy the downturn in main-  ↓  Moët & Chandon . . . stream lager with 1.1% growth. Grouse (10)  ↓  Pimm’s . –. –.  ↑  Rekorderlig . . .  ↓  WKD . –. –. Who’s out?  ↓  Oxford Landing . –. –.  ↓  Lambrini . –. –. 101 (97)  ↑  Calvet . –. –.  ↑  BrewDog . . . Greene King ↓ .%  ↑  Canti . . . 102 (99)  ↓  Cobra . –. –.  ↑  Malibu . . . JP Chenet ↓ .%  ↑  Jim Beam . . . 105 (93)  ↑  Lanson . . .  ↓  Martini . –. –. Marston’s ↓ .%  ↑  Chekov . . . 110 (100)  ↑  Greenall’s . . .  ↑  Tanqueray . . . Turner Road ↓ .%  ↓  Viña Maipo . –. –. 121 (89)  ↑  Tyskie . . .  ↑  Hobgoblin . . . Teacher’s ↓ .%  ↓  Disaronno . . .  ↓  Frosty Jack’s . –. –. has enjoyed the second greatest growth of the  ↓  Southern Comfort . –. –. year, partly by undercutting rival Bell’s (15).  ↓  Jameson . . . So many of the big guns of booze are defy-  ↓  Torres . . . ing the di cult times by mustering their con-  ↑  Trivento . . . siderable  nancial and marketing  repower.  ↑  Black Tower . –. –. But the smartest players are doing more than  ↓  Veuve Clicquot . . . just lowering prices and splurging on ads;  ↓  Holsten . –. –. they are working with retailers to cut the dead  ↑  Freixenet . . . wood from their ranges. And there’s been  ↑ – Amstel . . . plenty of that in certain categories of late.  ↑  Mud House . . . “While  xture space for classic segments  ↓  Jägermeister . –. –. in both lager and ale is being reduced to pri-  ↑  Buckfast Tonic Wine . . . oritise space to the growth segments, deliv-  ↓  High Commissioner . –. –. ering an optimised core range is important,”  ↓  Glenfiddich . –. –. says Toby Lancaster, category & shopper mar-  ↑  Sharp’s . . . keting director at Heineken, which has seen  ↑  Birra Moretti . . . huge cuts to its Foster’s and Bulmer’s (48)  ↓  First Cape . –. –. lineups over the past year. But he adds that  ↓  Cono Sur . . . standard canned brands such as Foster’s still  ↓  Banrock Station . –. –. play a crucial role in the category. “The beer  ↑  Old Mout . . . category is worth £2.8bn in the grocery sector  ↓  Harveys . –. –. – classic lager represents 22% of this; 46% of Methodology: Britain’s 100 Biggest Alcohol Brands uses data from Nielsen’s ScanTrack service, which monitors weekly sales from a nationwide network of EPoS checkout scanners plus some manual audits. Coverage is taken from grocery multiples (including beer shoppers buy into classic lager.” their dark-store sales), co-ops, multiple o licences, multiple forecourts, convenience multiples and symbols. The data is for But even those drinkers are trading up to the period MAT to 22 April 2017. Note: This year, sales  gures include all variants for total brand - ie Stella Artois includes lager and cider; Smirno includes vodka and RTDS. Copyright: Report compiled by Nielsen, exclusively for The Grocer/William Reed pricier brews; see the growth of AB InBev’s Business Media. No reproduction in full or in part for commercial purposes is permitted without prior consent of Nielsen. Budweiser (4) and Corona (11), which have

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Z_g1728_BBAB Intro feature_WEB.indd 50 13/07/2017 15:31

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enjoyed the year’s biggest and third biggest Biggest winners & losers (£m) gains, and Heineken’s Amstel (88) for proof. Even Britain’s biggest booze brand, Stella BUDWEISER .% Artois, is managing to convince drinkers that . not all mainstream lagers are created equal. – – – – – – –        Overall sales have fallen 2.1% to £527m on volumes down 4%, but this is down to huge GROUSE  . % losses of space for the Cidre range and Stella . 4; the 4.8% abv lager is up 2.3% to £487.8m. – – – – – – –        “We’re seeing strong growth as premium and world lagers continue to win market CORONA  .% share,” says head of trade marketing Jessica . Markowski, who adds that Stella’s tie-ups – – – – – – –        with Wimbledon and Ascot and a greater emphasis on the bottle format have helped BAREFOOT  . % attract new drinkers to the 4.8% abv lager. As . the image on p54 makes clear, it’s also been – – – – – – –        pushing itself as an accompaniment to food. It’s not the only one. Newcomer Buckfast AMSTEL . % Tonic Wine (91), a brand that was linked . to 6,500 reports of antisocial behavior in a – – – – – – –        recent Telegraph article, is trying to present itself as foodie brand “We’ve done a lot of BELL’S  . % food shows down south,” says sales manager –. Stewart Wilson. “We want to educate people – – – – – – –        on how versatile Buckfast can be.”

LINDEMAN’S  . % –. “At Stella we are seeing – – – – – – –        strong growth as FOSTER’S .% premium and world –. – – – – – – –        lagers continue to

BLOSSOM HILL . % win market share” –. – – – – – – –        Pitching Bucky as a dinner party drink to the chattering classes may be too tough a sell CARLSBERG  .% (Wilson concedes that most of the brand’s –. growth is from growing distribution in – – – – – – –        England), but plenty of other big players have proved that, with a little bit of creative think- ing and  exibility, drinkers can be encour- aged to rethink how much a brand is worth. Fancy another chance to win? Guinness (28) is perhaps the best example of this. A er years of decline the brand has Does your brand have But entrants stand been given a shot in the arm by the new cra what it takes to wow a to win more than mere beers brought out under the Brewers Project. panel of consumers and kudos. Every entry “Smaller cra brands have been amazing experts to win a Grocer will receive a unique at adapting their ranges,” says Diageo’s Drinks Award? There’s feedback report compiled Dodwell. “It does put pressure on your sup- still time to  nd out by by Cambridge Market ply chain and innovation function, but this is entering The Grocer’s Research, including something big brands have to get better at.” 2017 Drink Awards! vital information on how So the big brands need to emulate the cra . This is the only retail consumers perceive But there also comes a time when cra has to awards scheme that the brand and data adopt mainstream tactics. For the  rst time identi es both branded The unique two-step measured against a range this year BrewDog, which had hitherto used and own label product judging process –  rst of category norms to guerilla marketing and publicity stunts (like excellence in the beer, by shoppers and then benchmark performance driving a tank through London or serving wine & spirits aisle and by a cionados – led to against competitors. beer in roadkill), paid for advertising. is open to everyone headline-grabbing wins That shows just how far cra has come. from gin and cra beer, in 2016, with a range of thegrocerdrinkawards. to fruit wine and cider players, big and small, co.uk or rebecca.george@ See the full ranking and added online extras producers. picking up gongs. wrbm.com at thegrocer.co.uk/bbab

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1 (1) “There are a lot of other It’s still stocking the Stella Artois premium lagers in the category worth lower abv spin- and linking Stella Artois to noting off, sales have SALES: £527.0m GROWTH: –2.1% iconic events has definitely that a crashed by almost a Britain’s biggest booze brand helped,” says Markowski. “A litre of Stella fifth to £16.4m, leading is doing its best to bury the lot of growth has been through Artois sells for more some to speculate that its days ‘wifebeater’ sobriquet it picked these and in-store activations.” than all of the forementioned are numbered. Still, Markowski up in the 1990s. It’s no longer These tie-ups also drove lagers, significantly more in insists it has a future: “It is for chugging from a tankard bottled sales, which Markowski the case of standard lagers still a key part of our portfolio to slake a hard-earned thirst, says boosted the brand’s Carling, Carlsberg and Foster’s and there are no plans to as it so often was in the Stella penetration and brought new (3). The cheapest, Carling, discontinue it.” ads of that decade. Now it’s for shoppers to the brand. The sells for an average of 62p less. It’s a similar story in cider. sipping from a slender chalice gradual switch from cans to These brands have two key Ranges have been ruthlessly while nibbling on olives and Stella’s trademark emerald things in common: all three rely rationalised in a bid to end charcuterie in front of the tennis green bottle is also helping to exclusively on the can format duplication and drive value (see above). How sophisticated! drive the average price of the and none of them contains back into the fixture. Stella Its choice of sponsorships core 4.8% abv lager up. Sales more than 4% abv. The supers Cidre has been the biggest in recent years has been key, are up 2.3% to £487.8m on are cutting space for such casualty, as higher value says AB InBev head of trade volumes that have dipped 0.1%, cheaper, weaker canned lagers. brands such as Thatcher’s (54), marketing Jessica Markowski. driven by a variety of initiatives, This pattern might be Kopparberg (16) and Westons As Carling (5), Carlsberg (11) says Markowski. benefiting Stella Artois, but (57) have won space. Morrisons and stablemate Bud (4) have “We have had a great in-store it’s hitting other parts of delisted Cidre in April, followed gone after footie fans through presence this year through our the portfolio hard. Stella 4 by Sainsbury’s in May. tie-ups with the ‘beautiful’ limited-edition multipacks and was completely delisted by Waitrose also stopped selling game, Stella has courted a more chalices,” explains Markowski. Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in the it, and many of its SKUs were refined crowd, partnering with “Our seasonal-led advertising first quarter of 2017, with Asda delisted across Tesco and Asda, Wimbledon, Ascot and golf’s and marketing have also had an following suit in May. With although it regained three Open Championship. impact.” Tesco the only major multiple listings in Asda in late May. “It’s

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2 (2) The biggest contributor is Smirnoff the core No 21 vodka, which accounts for nearly 90% of SALES: £487.6m GROWTH: +2.8% Smirnoff’s total. Sales are up Could Britain’s biggest vodka’s 2.8% to £437.9m on volumes recent foray into cider do for the up 4.3%. Average price has brand and the category what dipped as a result of stiffening the 1999 launch of Smirnoff Ice competition between the did for alcopops and Smirnoff? mainstream mults and the Diageo off-trade sales director discounters, while Diageo has Guy Dodwell thinks so. ramped up ad spend on the “When Smirnoff Ice broke brand, kicking off the latest 17 years ago, it drove a huge phase of Smirnoff’s We’re Open amount of marketing halo, campaign in March with TV ads gained a huge amount of featuring a deaf dance teacher. awareness and attracted new “We’re taking the lion’s share consumers to the overall of media in the vodka category,” brand,” he says. “Smirnoff Cider says Dodwell. “Our promotional can do the same. It’s brought strategy is very consistent, but something new to flavoured the retailers are working hard cider and driven growth in the in a very competitive market overall Smirnoff trademark.” around market share. Smirnoff Since launch last June, the is obviously a big player in three-strong range of ciders – spirits so is used as a big driver in raspberry & pomegranate, of spirits sales.” passionfruit & lime and It’s not all been sunshine and mandarin & pink grapefruit rainbows, however. Sales of – has racked up £6.3m, filling 2013 launch Smirnoff Gold have some of the space left by the plummeted, as have Smirnoff cuts to other flavoured cider Ice and Smirnoff Ice Black. ranges such as Bulmers (48) and With sales of Gold now just Magners (49). That makes it the £1.7m and Ice’s combined sales second biggest contributor to only £1.2m, their days could be Smirnoff’s £13.4m growth. numbered.

challenging,” says Markowski. growth and we are optimising “There have been a lot of new the range to make sure we’re players and yes, we have seen available for consumers who some volume decline as result of like to buy the brand. range rationalisation.” “We just need to focus on As a result, Cidre’s five our credentials as a different variants are down £22.7m kind of offering, which is the (44.9%) combined, the greatest Continental side.” loss of any cider brand in the top And despite many of Britain’s 100 and the biggest contributor biggest retailers’ apparent lack to the overall Stella brand’s of faith in Cidre, Markowski decline. As in beer, current says there is still plenty of cause trends are favouring higher for optimism. The brand is value bottled ciders – see the looking to drive sales over the success of Smirnoff’s (2) Cider summer – or ‘Cidre Season’ as for further proof. A year ago AB AB InBev has renamed it – by InBev told us that Cidre’s then pushing it as a perfect picnic widespread availability in cans accompaniment. had devalued the brand. The “Summer and Christmas focus continues to be on bottles, are key trading periods for us says Markowski. and we’ve still got the summer “With the growth in cider ahead,” says Markowski. driven by the more premium “We’re expecting to see side of the category – traditional a turnaround in the cider and world ciders – this is where category just because it is such we will focus our future efforts,” a seasonally driven brand. she says. There are currently no plans to “We are still seeing some discontinue Stella Artois Cidre.”

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4 (6) Budweiser SALES: £368.7m GROWTH: +18.6% Boom! Bud has served up the year’s greatest gain, worth a lip- smacking £57.8m. That’s almost twice the size of second greatest grower Grouse’s (10) advance. Bud’s boom is partly a sign of the times – it’s won some shelf space lost by cheaper standard lagers such as Carlsberg (11) and frequent trips across multiple Foster’s (3) – but, still, it’s left outlets,” says AB InBev head nothing to chance, spending big of trade marketing Jessica on (mainly football-orientated) Markowski. “This creates marketing and targeting growth opportunities for Budweiser.” in the convenience channel. The core lager contributed “We’re seeing change of £55.1m to the growth. Bud shopper habits away from big Light, relaunched in the UK in weekly shops to smaller, more February, delivered £4.4m.

3 (3) With the core lager now 5 (4) Foster’s accounting for 94.1% of Carling Foster’s sales, up from SALES: £404.1m GROWTH: –8.1% 91.9% last year, Heineken is SALES: £322.8m GROWTH: +1.1% To think that three years ago concentrating its marketing The top 100’s cheapest lager just £20m separated Foster’s, on this line and tapping has shifted an extra 565k litres then Britain’s number two dominant trends: provenance, (2.8%), adding an extra £3.6m booze brand, and Stella. heritage and craft. and proving there’s still space We even said the Heineken “Heineken is continually for standard lager in the supers. owned-brand was about to conducting research into Yes, that space is being usurp the number one spot. consumer trends and shopper squeezed as retailers switch to How times change. Today needs to ensure our brands pricier lagers such as Bud (4) Foster’s is worth £88.3m less are constantly evolving and even pricier craft beers like undercutting Carlsberg (11) and than it was back in 2014 and to be relevant and entice BrewDog (65), but Carling has Foster’s (3), as Molson Coors has it’s dropped a place in the customers,” says category & managed to mop up some of the continued to invest in Carling. rankings. This year sales have shopper marketing director facings lost by rival standard February saw the relaunch of crashed £35.6m – the third Toby Lancaster. “Our core lagers in the range reviews. Carling Cider (after predecessor biggest loss of the year – as brands need to remain fresh.” This boils down to two crucial British Cider suffered a slew it’s suffered big space losses in The current campaign elements: price and brand of delistings in 2016), Carling the mults’ range reviews. carries the tagline ‘Crafted to stewardship. Selling at an Premier and the unveiling of a The flagship lager still Refresh’ with TV ads featuring average of £1.56/litre, it’s been new look for the brand. has a major presence in the the brand’s 19th century mults, but its share of shelf founders delivering beer to 6 (5) is falling as retailers divert parched cricket players in the Hardys more shelving to higher Australian Outback. It’s also margin imported lagers and set its sights on reclaiming SALES: £293.6m GROWTH: –4.5% craft beer. It’s fallen 5.9% to share among younger male Wine is struggling right now, £380.3m. The rest of the range customers by partnering with particularly the Australian is in even worse shape. viral news website Unilad. stuff. “The loss of half-price Foster’s Rocks, the only There’s a lot riding on promotions means shoppers are other spirit beer in the top Foster’s bid to reinvent itself buying less,” says Paul Hillier, 100 apart from Desperados around its ‘refreshment’ marketing director at Hardys’ (56), lost its only supermarket credentials, and with the owner Accolade. “Some have listing in Morrisons in supers prioritising pricier, switched out of wine altogether February and Foster’s Radler higher abv lagers it has its into ‘on trend’ craft beer and “thriving brand loyalty”. Its cloudy lemon beer lost its work cut out. If both Foster’s even adult soft drinks.” sponsorship of the England sole slot in Sainsbury’s just and Bud (4) continue their So Britain’s biggest wine Cricket Board is expected to weeks later. Foster’s Gold, the current trajectories, Foster’s brand has been hit hard, losing drive sales going forward, with brand’s premium 4.5% abv will find itself in the fourth £13.7m of its value as volumes plans to boost its visibility with brew, suffered a similar fate, spot this time next year. sank at the same rate (4.5%). advertising, promo and limited- falling by more than a third to But, as recent history shows However, Hillier says the edition packs, in-store point- £16.7m. us, that’s a big ‘if’ indeed. number of shoppers buying off- of-sale materials and a social deal has increased, showing media push.

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7 (8) Strongbow SALES: £283.6m GROWTH: +3.9% Strongbow is going to the dark side. As Original, Pear and Citrus Edge fall o a cli , Dark Fruit is up 32.9% to £91.1m. Not that owner Heineken is turning its back on apples. Even  avour variants contain them and Original still makes up 63.3% of Strongbow’s value. than Original. Dark Fruit has It’s more a case of encouraging fetched an average of £2.36. drinkers to splash out more by And so overall growth is launching pricier new variants. being driven by the shi to 2015 launch Cloudy Apple, pricier products. Its £10.6m which has seen sales more than gain comes on volumes up just double to £10.1m, is a case in 0.7%. The days of Citrus Edge point. With an average price and Pear, worth just 400k and of £2.33/l , it sells for 68p more £2.3m, look numbered.

9 (12) visibility and space in-store 8 (9) Gordon’s in gin and this is bene ting Jack Daniel’s Gordon’s,” he continues. SALES: £213.0m GROWTH: +12.6% “Some areas, like standard SALES: £222.7m GROWTH: +1.2% It’s about time a gin made lagers,  avoured ciders Jack was crowned Britain’s it into Britain’s top 10 and blended whisky have biggest whiskey brand in last bestselling booze brands, become squeezed in store and year’s report. And it’s retained given the current vogue for other areas have expanded the top spot despite the core Mother’s Ruin. But for all the considerably.” Tennessee whiskey’s 0.5% dip talk of small cra and super Lower prices have also on volumes down 1.5%. How? premium gins, it’s the biggest played a part in Gordon’s By spreading its bets with a (and one of the cheapest) growth. A litre of the brand’s broadened portfolio. Tennessee that’s delivered most growth. London Gin, which accounts Whiskey’s share of brand value This summer it’s pushing Gordon’s is up £23.9m, the for 82.2% of total sales, has has fallen 1.2% points to 69.3%, NPD Lynchburg Lemonade greatest growth of any of the been selling for an average as Jack has pushed further into and Tennessee Cider – the four gin brands in the top 100 of £17.63 over the past year, premixes and new  avours. JD latter inspired by Smirno ’s (2) and the seventh biggest in down 2.3% on the previous & Cola is up 14.3% to £20.4m; success in the growing ‘spider’ the overall ranking. This is year. The average price of Tennessee Honey & Lemonade sector. “It’s gaining very strong down to a number of factors premixed Gordon’s G&T and is up 43.5% to £2m; cinnamon traction with consumers,” says including a pack redesign, Sloe gins has also fallen whiskey Tennessee Fire is up head of commercial planning & big marketing investment considerably, helping to drive 58.9% to £5m. activation Crispin Stephens. (particularly in outdoor growth for these variants. advertising) and regular £15/ Further growth will come 10 (13) litre deals in the mainstream from NPD and smarter Grouse mults as they attempt to stem merchandising, suggests their losses to the discounters. Dodwell. “There’s an SALES: £209.9m GROWTH: +15.9% “The gin category is argument for spirits and That a litre of Famous Grouse particularly vibrant at the mixers to be merchandised has been selling for more than a moment and a lot of the credit together more o en and pound less than back in 2015/16 for that has to go to the new we’re working with mixer makes it clear: blended Scotch entrants – they have done a companies and retailers to remains one of booze’s most lot for gin as a whole,” says drive this,” he says. price-sensitive sectors. Diageo o -trade sales director “The category is very hot But that’s not stopped Grouse Guy Dodwell. and we’re looking to drive from turning in the second He adds that the in ux it hard with a couple of new greatest gain of the year, worth certain periods throughout the of new gin brands into the innovations, which we’re £28.7m, and almost reversing year – particularly Christmas supermarkets has resulted looking to launch soon. I wish the £30.7m loss we reported and Father’s Day – timing is in more space being devoted I could tell you about them a year ago. Price is crucial – also key. to gin as a whole, bene ting now but rest assured, The fetching an average of £17.61/l, Grouse has cashed in on these the market leader. “The Grocer will be the  rst to hear the core Famous line is now events with high pro le £15/l proliferation of gin listings in about the news.” signi cantly cheaper than Bell’s featured space deals, targeted the retailers has driven higher So watch this space! (15) – but it isn’t everything. ads, gi packs and personalised With Scotch sales spiking at bottle deals.

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11 (7) It’s certainly been busy, Carlsberg spending £15m on new ads starring Danish actor Mads SALES: £209.1m GROWTH: –24.4% Mikkelsen (right) and tying up Another rotten year for with music festival organisers Denmark’s biggest beer. The Live Nation. In January, the expectation that Tesco’s 2015 standard lager (down £36.4m decision to axe Carlsberg or 22.2%) got a limited-edition would lead to further losses of pack redesign titled the ‘The space has been realised. It’s København Collection’. Export lost more than anyone in this (down £22.5m or 29.8%) got ranking: £67.6m. That’s only a new look last autumn, with £1.8m less than 2016/15’s loss. the brand’s trademark green But it’s not giving up without replaced with white, and a fight. “We’re being extremely its Danish provenance and proactive to turn around the heritage emphasised on pack. decline in sales,” says VP The aim is to lure millennials for sales Alistair Gaunt. “We back to the brand with a suave recognised that we needed new image playing on its to address the decline in Danish roots. It could work. lager sales and undertook a After all, Mikkelsen is a world year-long research project to away from the high vis-clad understand what was driving Stuart Pearce who made bulk these trends and how we could beer deliveries to building sites address them.” in a 2016 ad campaign.

12 (11) 13 (10) 14 (14) Echo Falls Blossom Hill Glen’s SALES: £179.2m GROWTH: –6.1% SALES: £177.0m GROWTH: –17.5% SALES: £152.0m GROWTH: –7.6% Echo Falls Fruit Fusion is Blossom Hill suffered the Value voddy Glen’s hasn’t had up 18.7% to £59.7m. Not bad biggest loss in wine, and the a gain in this report since 2011. given it’s only three years old. second biggest overall. Sales It’s problem is twofold: it’s no But this didn’t make up for fell £37.4m despite a packaging longer that cheap – a litre of its still wine’s £20.9m loss. Of revamp and an overhaul of its Russian Standard (21) costs 42p Accolade’s five top 100 brands, Fruit Bloom range, renamed less – and it lacks Smirnoff’s (2) only Mud House (89) is up. Spritz and put in a 250ml can. marketing firepower.

15 (15) 16 (20) 17 (19) Bell’s Kopparberg Kronenbourg 1664 SALES: £151.9m GROWTH: –9.9% SALES: £146.3m GROWTH: +14.9% SALES: £132.9m GROWTH: +10.1% There’s a right ding dong going Even if you forget the £2m Big ad spend and keen pricing on in Scotch right now. With the Kopparberg Fruit Lager has have served 1664 well. It’s up supers prioritising US whiskey racked up since launch last year, £12.2m as average price fell and craft spirits, Grouse (10) and this is still the year’s strongest 3.3% to £2.18/litre. Ads starring Grant’s (39) have undercut Bell’s cider brand, with growth of Eric Cantona trumpeted the and owner Diageo has diverted £17m. Big distribution gains and UK-brewed beer’s Alsace roots spend to NPD Haig Club. new 330ml cans are to thank. to tap the world lager trend.

18 (18) 19 (31) 20 (29) McGuigan Corona Barefoot SALES: £130.8m GROWTH: +7.8% SALES: £125.3m GROWTH: +28.8% SALES: £125.2m GROWTH: +28.0% Focusing on the convenience Corona is up £28m, thanks to Barefoot had the most growth sector has paid off. As other big marketing spend and new in wine (£27.4m) and overtook Aussies’ sales fell, McGuigan listings. AB InBev says the sister brand Gallo (31) to become gained £9.5m. TV campaign 12x330ml bottle pack is the Britain’s fourth biggest wine. Bring a McGuigan also helped, top seller. It wants to sustain ‘Flavourful but affordable’ NPD as has a raft of NPD including a growth with PoS material such such as a shiraz cabernet and Black Label Malbec. as branded gondola ends. pink pinot grigio have helped.

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28 (25) replicate.” Indeed, with sales Guinness up 2.1% to £4.5m, Guinness West Indies Porter is by far the SALES: £102.4m GROWTH: +1.5% most successful product under Growth might be slowing but Brewers Project (apart from Guinness is still in the black, craft lager Hop House 13, now with sales up £1.5m (a year ago worth £6.7m, but not included it was up £7.6m). That this is as a Guinness product here). Guinness’s third consecutive Guinness Golden Ale and year of growth following a Dublin Porter, meanwhile, period of decline is significant: have suffered combined losses it’s almost three years since of £1.3m. Diageo launched its Brewers This, says Dodwell, Project range. demonstrates the importance “We’ve learned a lot from of differentiation. “The project the Brewers Project,” says will thrive on the speed at Diageo off-trade sales director which we can bring out new Guy Dodwell. “The shopper products.” Nevertheless, most wants to be excited with new growth for Guinness has come products. The standout success from the core Draught product. of the West Indie Porter we This, again, is down to the brought out under the project success of Brewers Project, has demonstrated there’s a says Dodwell. “It has brought real market for products that people back into the core are unique and not easy to product.”

21 (16) 22 (23) 23 (17) Russian Standard Peroni Bacardi SALES: £125.1m GROWTH: +1.9% SALES: £121.9m GROWTH: +13.8% SALES: £117.9m GROWTH: –3.7% Lower prices alone don’t seem Italian import Peroni’s owner A new design and Spanish to be pressing vodka drinkers’ has changed (Asahi took over names (Blanca, Oro, etc) in buttons any more. Russian in October); sales remain true 2015 haven’t helped Bacardi. Standard may be 59p/litre less to form. The classy House of Only Oakheart is up, by 6.1% to than Smirnoff No 21 (2), but it’s Peroni entered its fourth year in £7.9m, as it loses share to Capt losing share to the latter brand’s 2016, helping convince drinkers Morgan’s (25) new (cheaper) marketing might. it’s worth its price (£3.83/litre). white rum and Spiced line.

24 (21) 25 (27) 26 (22) Casillero Del Diablo Captain Morgan Bailey’s SALES: £116.0m GROWTH: +2.2% SALES: £115.1m GROWTH: +16.1% SALES: £107.8m GROWTH: +2.2% Brits like South American The Captain’s ship shape as More evidence of Diageo wine for its drinkability and it steals share from Bacardi stretching brand boundaries, low prices; retailers because it (23). Bestseller Spiced has Bailey’s launched iced coffees in lessens their reliance on the old contributed most to the £16m March. They’ve already racked world. So Concha y Toro’s star growth – £8.5m – followed by up £300k. The brand’s £2.3m brand is up £2.5m. Ads and Sky the white rum launched in 2015, growth was driven by Original Movies sponsorship are helping. which delivered an extra £3.4m. and new Spiced Pumpkin.

27 (28) 29 (30) 30 (26) San Miguel Isla Negra Jacob’s Creek SALES: £105.8m GROWTH: +5.7% SALES: £101.1m GROWTH: +4.9% SALES: £98.9m GROWTH: +0.9% San Miguel’s £5.7m growth is Concha y Toro puts Isla Negra’s Britain’s third-biggest Aussie price-driven – volumes have £4.7m gain down to a focus on wine grew £900k, despite a inched up 0.1% – thanks partly “delivering value”. The list’s 24.1% fall to £7m for the pricier to growth for the 660ml bottle. joint cheapest wine, along with Classics line. The brand says The £2.59/litre average price Banrock Stn (98), is investing innovation is key to engaging has been justified by short films in targeted merchandising and shoppers, pointing to its new about ‘enriching experiences’. growth in convenience. Double Barrel Matured Shiraz.

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32 (35) Pernod has also invested in Campo Viejo cementing Campo’s position as a classy, drink-at-home SALES: £94.7m GROWTH: +15.5% wine. A major push this year Britain’s bestselling Spanish saw the brand – and its sister wine is the year’s second wine Jacob’s Creek (30) – offer fastest growing plonk, after customers the chance to win Barefoot (20), up a cool £12.7m. thousands of £40 vouchers “Consumers are opting to for takeaway dinners via drink less but better,” explains promotional neck tags on more Pernod Ricard UK commercial than 1.8 million bottles. director Chris Ellis. “Premium The 2016 launch of wines have a huge role to play white Campo Rioja Viura- for retailers. If they’re not Tempranillo Blanco is available, it closes the door to attracting newcomers to potential sales.” Spanish wine, adds Ellis. Campo, which has been “White wines from Rioja selling for a hefty average of are enjoying great success £9.15/litre in the past year, in their native Spain and has gained shelf space in our goal has been to prove the supers’ range reviews. there’s a great opportunity in Meanwhile, cheaper brands the UK,” he says. Blanco has such as Blossom Hill (13) and built on listings in Tesco and Lindeman’s (51) have lost space Sainsbury’s to pick up a slot in as SKU counts have been cut. Waitrose’s wine roster in May.

31 (24) 33 (32) 34 (42) Gallo Yellow Tail Coors Light SALES: £98.5m GROWTH: –0.3% SALES: £92.1m GROWTH: +0.9% SALES: £87.5m GROWTH: +24.2% Gallo’s sales are recovering after Not bad compared with the Up £17.1m, thanks to ads with a steep loss a year ago. Volume other Aussie wines on this list. Jean-Claude Van Damme and is up 1.2% thanks partly to keen But things could get tougher a swathe of promotions in the pricing on its core lines and ads. for Yellow Tail. It suffered mults. It’s not gone unnoticed; Lower abv Spritz didn’t fare so delistings in Asda as part of a AB InBev launched Bud Light well, losing a third of sales. It’s range revamp that primarily (4) in March, undercutting now launched a strawberry line. focused on pricier plonk. Coors Light by 29p/litre.

35 (33) 36 (40) 37 (36) Beck’s Bombay Whyte & Mackay SALES: £87.3m GROWTH: +2.1% SALES: £78.0m GROWTH: +12.1% SALES: £75.4m GROWTH: –6.0% Beck’s hasn’t grown in this list Bombay has had a heady year. It’s the cheapest Scotch in the since 2011. Now it’s up £1.8m as Much of its £8.4m growth has top 100. And, at £16.99 a litre, the supers switch to stronger been price-driven (volume rose it’s 1.4% cheaper than in 2015/16 lagers – Bier is up 6.2% to 9.1%). Pricier Sapphire is up thanks to growing reliance on £66m; Vier fell 58.2% to £3.3m nearly a fifth to £59.6m; cheaper litre deals in the supers. Now it’s – and drinkers cut down: 0.1% Bombay Dry fell 3.4% to £18.4m banking on a partnership with abv Blue is up 12.9% to £17.4m. as Gordon’s (9) stole sales. the British & Irish Lions Tour.

38 (38) 39 (34) 40 (39) Wolf Blass Grant’s John Smith’s SALES: £74.4m GROWTH: –0.7% SALES: £72.2m GROWTH: –12.9% SALES: £71.1m GROWTH: –3.0% A 1.9% dip in average price did Grant’s has been undercut by Heineken’s 2015 attempt to ‘do wonders for Wolf Blass’ volume Whyte & Mackay (37) and out- a Guinness (28)’ by bolstering a sales but wasn’t enough to marketed by Grouse (10). All standard ale with a posh bottled drive value. Rugby, yet again, six of Grant’s key lines are in variant has fallen flat: Golden featured heavily as it brought decline. Core Family Reserve Ale is down a third to £3.3m; back its ‘rugby bottles’ in time Scotch contributed £9.1m to the Original and Extra Smooth have for the Six Nations this year. brand’s £10.7m loss. suffered from lost space.

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41 (43) 42 (49) 43 (47) Heineken Villa Maria Hen SALES: £68.0m GROWTH: +5.2% SALES: £65.4m GROWTH: +18.8% SALES: £61.3m GROWTH: +5.2% Heineken’s £3.3m gain is price- Kiwi wine is booming. Three of Hen rules the roost in premium driven; volume is down 0.4% the four top 100 kiwi wines are bottled ale. The market leader – not great given today’s vogue in growth. Villa Maria tops the has emerged from the range for ‘world’ lager. But a new lot with an extra £10.3m added resets in a strong position, with campaign featuring thought- to its value. Notably, these are  agship Old Speckled up 4% to provoking short lm Worlds also the list’s priciest wines, all £47.7m. Vintage beer Old Cra y Apart made headlines in May. averaging at over £9/litre. is up by almost a  h to £7.4m.

44 (41) 45 (46) 46 (45) Kumala Courvoisier Tennent’s SALES: £59.9m GROWTH: –13.9% SALES: £59.5m GROWTH: +2.5% SALES: £59.0m GROWTH: +0.1% South African wine brand The king of cognac is up £1.4m, Tennent’s has been selling Kumala was hit hard in the driven by its core VS line (up 3% at an average of £1.68/litre, supers’ spring clean of their to £52.5m). Lower prices – down making it the top 100’s second wine aisles, losing £9.6m of its 2.9% – have helped, as have cheapest lager a er Carling sales, partly as a result of space seasonal deals and marketing (5). Suggesting that price is losses and drinkers migrating to trumpeting its French heritage still paramount in mainstream pricier products. and versatility in cocktails. lager, volumes are up 1.5%.

47 (52) 49 (53) 50 (48) Brancott Estate Magners Oyster Bay SALES: £54.3m GROWTH: +8.8% SALES: £53.1m GROWTH: +9.7% SALES: £53.1m GROWTH: –5.3% Being the fourth priciest top 100 Magners’ 2016 decision to axe Wine drinkers might be trading wine at £9.26/litre hasn’t hurt its  avoured lines has paid up, but there’s a limit to what Brancott. It’s nearly doubled o , fuelling 16.5% growth to they’ll pay. It seems Oyster in value since 2012. Now ads £49.6m for its Original apple Bay’s £11.21/litre average (a are highlighting its heritage cider. Price has proved crucial, bottle rarely falls below £8) is it. and telling the story of its rst too. Original’s average price per Its zz’s days look numbered: Sauvignon Blanc’s creation. litre has dropped 8.9% to £1.82. sales fell 36.8% to just £1.7m.

48 (44) But Bulmers still maintains Bulmers a strong presence in the remaining mults, where it SALES: £54.2m GROWTH: –13.8% features heavily in multibuy Bulmers’ overextended deals. Bulmers Blueberry & portfolio led to its downfall Lime cider is booming, with as supermarkets took their sales up £5.3m. And on top of collective knives to  avour that, Bulmers Pear is the only extensions that couldn’t pull pear cider in growth in the top their weight. Its sales are down 100 (not counting Kopparberg’s £8.7m – the second greatest non-alcoholic line), with sales loss to a cider brand in the top up 14% on volumes up 24.2%. 100, behind Stella Cidre. A he y fall in price gave it an Biggest variants Bulmers edge over its competitors. Original and Crushed Red Bulmers is looking to ght Berry & Lime are down 13.1% back further with the launch and 7% respectively, while of two Orchard Pioneers smaller extensions like Zesty lines, Sarah’s Red Apple and Blood Orange and Bold Black Kier’s Cloudy Apple, in 500ml Cherry have dwindled to bottles. They’re designed £2.4m and £700k respectively. to “bridge the gap between The brand was stripped of mainstream apple cider and all but one Tesco listing in more premium, artisanal February, and its presence in cider”, says the brand, but they Asda was severely depleted in have yet to be picked up by any May . of the mults.

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54 (74) with the range reviews. The Thatchers supermarkets have realised what it is consumers want; SALES: £47.1m GROWTH: +37.8% that’s what we’re supplying.” Thatchers Gold has delivered Family-owned Thatchers’ £9.4m of the overall brand’s gain has been the global £12.9m growth. That’s the drinks giants’ loss. AB InBev’s greatest gain of any top 100 Stella (1) Cidre, Heineken’s apple cider. In the wider sector, Bulmers (48) and Molson only Strongbow (7) Dark Fruit Coors’ Carling Apple Cider has grown more (by £22.6m). have all been left with a sour The success is down to taste in their mouths following two factors, says MD Martin the past year’s range reviews. Thatcher: drinkers’ growing But Thatchers’ growth hasn’t thirst for quality traditional come cheap. Average price has cider and the supermarkets’ fallen 5.5%, driven primarily efforts to inject value back into by growing sales of Gold in their beer & cider aisles. can multipacks. The brand has “People want to feel that also spent big on advertising in they’re actually getting the past year. Now it’s pushing something a bit better than the into craft, with 330ml cans of norm,” says Thatcher. “That’s NPDs Stan’s Barrel Roller and what we offer, packaging-wise Leaf Twister ciders doing a and the liquid inside. That’s roaring trade in the big four on why we’ve done very well multibuy deals.

51 (37) 52 (50) 53 (54) Lindeman’s Three Barrels Absolut SALES: £53.0m GROWTH: –30.0% SALES: £52.8m GROWTH: +4.9% SALES: £52.2m GROWTH: +14.5% Delistings led to Lindeman’s Forget trendy gin. Brandy is The top 100’s priciest vodka £22.7m loss, with nearly a third also up. Three Barrels has is well placed to cash in on of SKUs binned by the mults in grown £2.5m, driven by its core Brits’ taste for premium. It’s what owner Treasury claims offering (up 12.3% in volume). up £6.6m, with fancy limited- was a “strategic decision” on But this isn’t entirely unrelated edition bottles and a rotating its part. It says it has “renewed” to the gin craze; the brand flavoured range (top seller: focus on the mid-tier Bin range. suggests it’s served with tonic. Raspberri) driving growth.

55 (68) 56 (57) 57 (61) I Heart Desperados Westons SALES: £47.0m GROWTH: +24.7% SALES: £45.7m GROWTH: +3.7% SALES: £44.8m GROWTH: +13.2% New listings have helped drive Heineken’s flagship ‘speer’ may Brits want “quality ciders that £9.3m growth for I Heart. Nearly be up £1.6m, but it hasn’t been offer a point of difference”, says half came from its fizzy wines, immune to range cuts: the Red head of customer marketing after the brand’s prosecco was and Verde spin-offs have fallen Darryl Hinksman. For that they listed by Tesco in November. off a cliff after losing listings. will pay. Vintage fetches an Pinot noir, rosé and sauvignon NPD Desperados Dos is now in average of £3.53 a litre, driving blanc also won more space. Morrisons and Asda. most of Westons’ £5.2m growth.

58 (56) 59 (54) 60 (73) Moët & Chandon Pimm’s Rekorderlig SALES: £44.2m GROWTH: +1.0% SALES: £41.7m GROWTH: –7.4% SALES: £39.6m GROWTH: +18.6% Britain’s bestselling bubbly Notoriously weather-dependent Another beneficiary of the has added £400k. This is price Pimm’s has had £3.3m wiped off supers’ push to end duplication driven; volumes fell 0.5%, as it’s its value. Diageo puts this down and drive value, the top 100’s been undercut by Lanson (70). to a hit and miss summer in priciest cider is up £6.2m. Top The brand is sponsoring the 2016. The new Cider Cup lines, seller strawberry & lime grew by Queen’s tennis tournament to less reliant on the sun, racked £2.2m, NPD spiced plum and its court the champagne set. up £1.6m in their first year. vodka cocktails by £1.3m.

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65 (129) and pale ale Dead Pony Club. BrewDog “We’ve seen fantastic shopper engagement for our new mixed SALES: £38.6m GROWTH: +170.5% can packs and larger Punk IPA In 2013 BrewDog drove a tank multipacks,” says BrewDog through the City of London head of sales Steve Ricketts. to launch its first round of “Development of craft ranges crowdfunding. Now it’s rolled can only be good for drinkers, into the top 100 on £24.3m as well as newcomers to the worth of growth, the year’s category.” sixth biggest gain. With BrewDog now sharing It’s benefited from the range the top 100 with the brands cuts that hit brands such as it has called ‘generic... made Foster’s (3) and Carlsberg (11) by people who just don’t so hard, with big distribution care’ (among other things), gains throughout the mults. it’s adopting their tactics. And not just for flagship Punk This year it ran its first ads, IPA (up £13.2m); nine new having hitherto relied solely brews have hit the shelves in on publicity stunts to build the the past year, plus a 12-bottle brand (see the tank, and right). mixed multipack. Grapefruit Now it’s moving into chillers IPA Elvis Juice has racked front of store. “This is a real up £2.1m since launch last focus for us in terms of retailer summer, making it BrewDog’s education,” says Ricketts. third bestseller after Punk Spoken like a true punk.

61 (58) 62 (60) 63 (59) WKD Oxford Landing Estates Lambrini SALES: £39.5m GROWTH: –5.8% SALES: £39.4m GROWTH: –0.3% SALES: £39.3m GROWTH: –3.6% Back in 2010, WKD was Even with a small drop, Oxford Lambrini’s third consecutive Britain’s 37th biggest booze Landing has done better than year of decline. All lines except brand, having grown 1.1% to other Aussies – see Lindeman’s Strawberry and Skinny – worth £63.1m. That was the last time it (51) or Banrock (98). It’s just £2.1m – are down. Now it is registered growth in this report. launched its first NPD in 25 trying a new blueberry line. It Now it’s pinning its hopes on a years: Marty’s Block, a four- could work; blueberry is flavour summer-long marketing push. strong premium range. of the month in cider at present.

64 (65) 66 (72) 67 (66) Calvet Canti Cobra SALES: £39.0m GROWTH: –8.9% SALES: £37.1m GROWTH: +11.8% SALES: £36.8m GROWTH: –0.8% Squeezed supplies of vintages Prosecco is booming but in Cobra’s been bitten by world and rationalisation of cheaper own label, mostly. Canti is the lagers such as Heineken (41) French wine ranges hit Calvet only branded prosecco in the and Tyskie (76), with volumes hard, says owner Groupe GCF. top 100, having entered in 2015. down 2.2%. It wants to grow by It wants to increase distribution Since then sales have jumped pushing itself as the ultimate as it marks its 200th birthday – 50%. This year’s marketing is accompaniment to curry and the focus of its 2018 marketing. celebrating its 70th anniversary. playing on its Indian heritage.

68 (70) 69 (83) 70 (71) Malibu Jim Beam Lanson SALES: £35.5m GROWTH: +6.5% SALES: £35.5m GROWTH: +22.2% SALES: £35.2m GROWTH: +8.6% February 2016 launch Malibu Britain’s second biggest US Lanson is the fastest growing Pineapple is responsible for whiskey has put an extra top 100 champers. Its status as most of the flavoured rum’s £6.5m through the tills, with Wimbledon’s official fizz has £2.2m growth. The variant is its core bourbon and Red Stag helped. So has its price. A litre now worth £1.9m. With sales of contributing most. Undercutting sells for £30.64 on average. the core coconut product flat, Jack Daniel’s (8) by an average That’s £8.03 less than Moët (58) NPD is increasingly important. of £7.44/litre helped. and £12.20 less than Veuve (85).

68 | The Grocer | 15 July 2017 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands

71 (62) 72 (82) 73 (85) Martini Chekov Greenall’s SALES: £35.1m GROWTH: –16.1% SALES: £34.4m GROWTH: +23.9% SALES: £33.7m GROWTH: +20.1% London bartender Davide Indie fave Chekov fell victim in The UK’s current passion for Zanardo has just been named early 2016 to a counterfeiting gin saw Greenall’s ramp up its Martini’s brand ambassador for scam that will still be fresh British heritage with a pack Northern Europe. The vermouth in the minds of many. But the redesign in the spring – as the will be hoping the ex Chiltern scandal failed to stymie the brand headed toward an extra Firehouse man can help claw value voddy – which picked up £5.6m in value sales. It’s the back £6.7m of lost sales. pace with volumes up 23.8%. cheapest gin in the top 100.

75 (63) 76 (80) 77 (91) Viña Maipo Tyskie Hobgoblin SALES: £33.2m GROWTH: –15.1% SALES: £32.8m GROWTH: +12.1% SALES: £32.2m GROWTH: +10.4% Maipo isn’t benefiting from Up £3.5m, thanks to growth in Hitting the 77 spot is impressive, the Chilean wine boom. Down world lager and its popularity given that Hobgoblin first crept £5.9m, it’s the only top 100 among expat Poles. Selling into the top 100 in 2015. Serious Concha y Toro brand in decline. at an average of £2.61/litre, promotion around Halloween Instead Brits are quaffing a Tyskie is cheaper than most and multibuys throughout heavily discounted Isla Negra other world lagers, reflecting its the year are paying off. Paler (29), down 4.8% in price. reliance on the can format. variant Gold is up 26.3% to £7m.

78 (74) 79 (64) 80 (67) Disaronno Frosty Jack’s Southern Comfort SALES: £32.3m GROWTH: +4.9% SALES: £31.9m GROWTH: –14.6% SALES: £31.9m GROWTH: –11.0% More proof that differentiation Forget craft. For some, choice of Disappointing, given Hi-Spirits’ is crucial in booze, the top 100’s drink is still down to price. See claim it would take SoCo “to the only Italian almond liqueur is Buckfast’s (91) top 100 debut or next level” after securing UK going from strength to strength. the £2.5m growth of K (109) for distribution in 2016. A new look Sales are up £1.5m, thanks proof. But Frosty, the cheapest emphasises the brand’s New in part to a push aimed at brand in the list, is struggling. Orleans roots. Smart, given the encouraging its use in cocktails. It’s lost £5.4m as it’s lost space. current vogue for Americana.

74 (99) convince shoppers to trade Tanqueray up from standard fare such as Gordon’s, which has been SALES: £33.5m GROWTH: +57.3% selling for £4.45 less per litre That Diageo is now spending on average. as much on this as it is on Super-premium Tanqueray Gordon’s (9), which is worth 10 is also in fine fettle. Sales more than seven times as have surged 72.4% to £4.3m. much as Tanqueray, speaks Fetching an average of £39.56/ volumes about the opportunity litre, Tanqueray is in the it sees in premium and super- same price bracket as craft premium gin. brands such as Sipsmith and “We now have an equal Hendrick’s and it is by far the focus on Gordon’s and priciest gin in the top 100. Tanqueray, whereas in the past “Gin is on fire but within that the vast majority of our efforts we have this premiumisation would have been on Gordon’s,” trend,” adds Dodwell. “Both says off-trade sales director Tanqueray variants are well Guy Dodwell. “There’s been placed to capitalise on that.” some distribution growth for But the growth isn’t all down Tanqueray, which is clearly to Diageo, suggests Dodwell. differentiated from Gordon’s.” “You have to call out Fever- Drinkers have been paying Tree for the great work they’ve an average of £23.51 for a done. They have done a great litre of Tanqueray, with job in democratising premium regular £20 deals intended to spirits and mixers,” he says.

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 15 July 2017 | The Grocer | 71 in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands

88 most of the Amstel sold in Amstel Britain is made in Manchester, not Amsterdam. With an abv SALES: £28.2m GROWTH: +716.9% of 4.1%, in terms of alcohol Is Amstel a standard tinnie content it’s closer to UK-brewed or a premium Continental Foster’s (3) or Carling (5) than lager? The latter, if you ask the Continental imports it is brand owner Heineken. Yet emulating. Yet, selling for an it’s starting to look as if the average of £2.12/litre, Amstel supermarkets think otherwise. has been fetching much more Amstel’s £24.7m growth is than these – in the case of the year’s fifth greatest gain, Carling 55p/litre more. driven by big distribution wins Heineken says it’s justified after its March 2016 relaunch, the price with TV ads, a tie-up which saw it roll out in 440ml with cycling event RideLondon cans for the first time and its and new labels highlighting brown bottle replaced with Amstel’s 147-year history. The green, a move Heineken said retailers seem less convinced. would better reflect the beer’s Tesco delisted the brand in ‘premium’ nature. In June February and it’s suffered big 2016, its first TV ads hit UK losses in the rest of the big four. screens, featuring Jaap, owner If Amstel’s first year isn’t going of Amsterdam’s smallest bar to be its last, it’s going to have and aimed at trumpeting to do more to justify its price. Amstel’s Dutch heritage. But Or lower it.

81 (77) 82 (79) 83 (94) Jameson Torres Trivento SALES: £31.3m GROWTH: +4.5% SALES: £30.5m GROWTH: +4.5% SALES: £30.1m GROWTH: +31.6% Original has delivered £400k of With own label winning in Argentinian malbec is bang on the only top 100 Irish whiskey’s wine, a £1.3m gain is a solid trend and Trivento is up £7.2m. £1.3m gain. Premium lines result. Deals on Vina Sol have Concha y Toro, which is pushing Caskmates and Crested and new been key, keeping average price the brand as the Official Wine RTDs, which Jameson says are at about £6.50/bottle. Expect of BBQ, says Brits are trading growing engagement with Irish more growth from Torres. It won up, so it’s launched a Private whiskey, are behind the rest. six new Tesco listings in March. Reserve Malbec at £10 a pop.

84 (88) 85 (81) 86 (84) Black Tower Veuve Clicquot Holsten SALES: £30.0m GROWTH: –2.3% SALES: £29.6m GROWTH: +1.2% SALES: £29.1m GROWTH: –0.2% Black Tower is down £700k and In terms of big name champers, In light of punters’ growing volume has dipped 1%. As the Veuve is third, after Moët (58) thirst for craft and with only five core line falls, more people are and Lanson (70), and growth SKUs listed across the major picking up cheaper spin-off has slowed. But the prosecco mults, Carlsberg’s Holsten B by Black Tower (up 2.8% in boom has seen retailers, such might have been expected volume; down 0.9% in value), as Iceland, give more space to to struggle. But the c-store eroding overall value further. Veuve and its rivals. perennial held its own.

87 (90) 89 (100) 90 (89) Freixenet Mud House Jägermeister SALES: £28.2m GROWTH: +5.3% SALES: £27.3m GROWTH: +21.4% SALES: £27.0m GROWTH: –1.6% Freixenet’s defied the decline in Up £4.8m, thanks in part to the Jägermeister’s performance cava with a solid start for NPD vogue for Kiwi wine and a deal proves NPD can sometimes just Ice (now worth £2.3m), recently with the British & Irish Lions cannibalise existing products. extended with a rosé variant, (Welsh rugby star George North 2015 launch Jägermeister Spice and core line Cordon Negro (up is new poster boy). As the fifth sales have doubled, but that 33%). Now the Spanish brand priciest top 100 plonk, it reflects growth appears to have come has launched a prosecco. the push to posher wines. from the pricier core product.

72 | The Grocer | 15 July 2017 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands

91 (104) 92 (69) 93 (86) Buckfast Tonic Wine High Commisioner Glen ddich SALES: £26.9m GROWTH: +7.9% SALES: £26.2m GROWTH: –20.0% SALES: £26.2m GROWTH: –5.6% A new entry on growth worth Bargain blended Scotch High The original single malt is £2m. Impressive, given that it Commissioner’s days as a top battling sti competition in isn’t in any of the big four. Gains 100 dram seem numbered, a er premium whisky, losing ground in English c-stores and Co-op, it lost a  h of it sales thanks to brands such as Talisker (145) away from Bucky’s Scottish to dwindling distribution and and the pricier Johnnie Walker heartland, were key. A new 5cl growing competition in its core (116) variants. But the core 12 bottle also helped. convenience market. Years Old is holding its own.

94 (95) 96 (78) 97 (92) Sharp’s First Cape Cono Sur SALES: £26.2m GROWTH: +13.9% SALES: £25.6m GROWTH: –9.1% SALES: £24.2m GROWTH: 0 % Sharp’s volumes are up 15.3% South Africa’s First Cape has Growth has ceased for Cono Sur – that’s £3.2m in sales – when been falling since 2011, when a er sales almost tripled since traditional ale brands like it was worth £120m. Drinkers 2014. A tough harvest in Chile Fuller’s (114) are struggling. trading up to pricier plonk (Cape and exchange rate  uctuations Newer beers Atlantic Pale Ale is the top 100’s third cheapest) have hit hard, says Concha y (up 67%) and Wolf Rock IPA (up and switching to Argentinian Toro, which is continuing the 41.2%) are riding the cra wave. and Chilean haven’t helped. brand’s Tour de France activity.

98 (76) 99 (107) 100 (98) Banrock Station Old Mout Harveys SALES: £23.6m GROWTH: –22.6% SALES: £22.9m GROWTH: +23.2% SALES: £22.7m GROWTH: –2.1% Banrock was half way up our Bulmers’ (48) loss was Mout’s In spite of all the hoopla about list in 2014, now it’s hanging gain as the supers cut fruit a sherry renaissance in trendy on by a thread. Big distribution ciders to focus on pricier lines bars, the top 100’s only sherry losses (the mults have binned like this. There’s a limit: it had brand looks set to bow out of 25% of its SKUs) mean its three of its four lines axed by the ranking. Not even £10/ percentage loss is the greatest of Tesco in a pricing spat in March. litre deals could save volumes, all of Accolade’s top 100 brands. Now it’s spending £5m on ads. which fell 1.1%.

95 (120) Not that Moretti necessarily Birra Moretti needs the new variants, which have picked up listings SALES: £26.1m GROWTH: +53.5% in Sainsbury’s, Morrisons Can Moretti ‘do a Guinness’ and Asda. Sales have surged (28) and drive further growth £9.1m, driving it into our with a series of spin-o brews? ranking for the  rst time. Birra That’s the aim of Moretti’s Le Moretti now costs an average Regionali duo, comprising alla of £2.93 per litre, positioning it Siciliana (5.8% abv) and alla  rmly in the premium arena. Toscana (5.5% abv), which was Nevertheless, it’s still 90p/litre launched in May. cheaper than fellow Italian “We know shoppers are lager Peroni (22). interested in more exciting and A food-led approach is premium options, particularly designed to play up Birra matched with food,” said Moretti’s heritage and Heineken category & shopper relationship with Italian marketing director Toby cuisine. Birra Moretti’s Lancaster on announcing annual food festival, the the launch. “This is the Moretti Gran Tour, took place opportunity for the grocery earlier this month as part channel to o er consumers of the Barclaycard British delicious Italian beers to enjoy Summer Time music festival in at home with food and bene t London’s Hyde Park, featuring from incremental growth in live DJs and a range of oh-so- the beer category.” trendy street food traders.

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 15 July 2017 | The Grocer | 73 in association with Nielsen britain’s biggest alcohol brands new recruits Five brands have been blown out of the top 103 104 106 109 100 in the past year. Maschio The Ned Estrella Damm K Expect more casualties SALES: £21.7m SALES: £21.7m SALES: £20.5m SALES: £19.5m GROWTH: +18.8% GROWTH: +69.0% GROWTH: +71.6% GROWTH: +14.4% in coming months as A second prosecco Premium Kiwi wine Estrella is spending C&C’s industrial- brand looks set to The Ned would be big. Last summer strength cider brand the supers continue to enter the top 100 the top 100’s third there was the short didn’t quite make it as Maschio storms priciest if it had lm Vale, starring into the top 100 this scrutinise brands’ up the rankings. made the list this Dakota Johnson; year. Still, sales of share of shelf. So who Cantine Maschio year. It’s built on in June we got Jean the 8.4% abv bevvy Extra Dry – listed its Majestic and Reno in The Little have gained serious are the new recruits by Morrisons in Waitrose Wine Things. It’s also momentum since January – added Cellar listings to been taking part a rebrand in 2014 waiting in the wings to £3.8m. Its core zz, enter Sainsbury’s in multibuy deals designed to make which accounts for and Morrisons. If on 660ml bottles. the brand stand out. take a spot in the more than half of it carries on at this An autumn Tesco Frosty Jack’s (79) value, fell 5.8% in rate, it will break the listing for 12x330ml may soon have a ranking? value and volume. top 100 soon. packs also helped. new top 100 rival.

74 | The Grocer | 15 July 2017 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk in association with Nielsen

128 130 132 141 145 (148) 147 Hendrick’s C r o e r s New Bardinet Talisker Las Moras Apple Cider Amsterdam SALES: £15.6m SALES: £13.5m SALES: £13.1m SALES: £12.9m GROWTH: +29.4% SALES: £15.2m SALES: £15.1m GROWTH: +35.5% GROWTH: +41.7% GROWTH: +32.8% A  h gin looks GROWTH: +22.5% GROWTH: +152.8% Distribution gains The Isle of Skye’s Argentina’s Las set to join the top Proof not all Gallo only began have been crucial ‘only’ whisky is Moras: trendy and 100’s ranks in drinkers are trading shipping this vodka for Bardinet this up £3.9m thanks anarchic. It comes the not so distant up to lah-di-dah from the US in past year, as has primarily to its entry complete with future as Hendrick’s cra brands, sales 2013, so the fact it’s its competitive level Skye variant, edgy packaging, continues to  y. The of this PET 5% abv now knocking on price. Asda and which has seen wines named a er cucumber and rose cider are  ying. the door of the top Sainsbury’s began sales surge 157.4% the Surrealist infused tipple has A litre sells for an 100 is impressive. listing the brand’s to £9m, partly due movement, and put an extra £3.6m average of £1.01, The 2016 launch of one-litre bottles last to a dip in price a slew of awards. through the tills only slightly higher a 35cl bottled has year. On average it’s driven by deals It’s in Tesco and thanks in part to a per unit than the helped fuel growth £3/l cheaper than at key seasonal Sainsbury’s, and combination of gi top 100’s cheapest in convenience, as Three Barrels and periods. 2013 launch more mults may packs and quirky brand, 7.5% abv has its keen price half the price of Storm has su ered a follow if it keeps up packaging. Frosty Jack’s (79). (average: £17.08). Courvoisier. 49.1% decline. the pace.

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 15 July 2017 | The Grocer | 75