Ho Ho Ho, and a bottle of rum!

General | 06 January, 2018

Rum is proving to be a big hit with Brits who have showed their love of the pirates’ tipple according to the latest sales figure.

After Christmas sales are taken into account, rum is expected to exceed the £1billion sales mark by the end of 2017, following in the footsteps of gin which broke a billion pounds in 2016.
The latest market report released by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association shows that total sales in the UK up to September this year reached £991million, up 5% on the same period last year.

This is the equivalent of 34.3 million bottles sold in our shops and supermarkets, pubs, bars and restaurants. If current trends continue rum sales in the UK will be worth over £1billion by the time the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

In the last 5 years UK rum has seen sales increase 18% by volume and 38% by value.

The latest increase in sales attests to the growing appetite in the UK for rum and the increasing number of brands on the market. In 2006, there were around 50 rum brands on the UK market, which has now increased to over 150 in 2016, showing that curiosity in new and different brands is not confined only to gin.

Sales of rum over the summer were given a boost as Brits enjoyed trying new concoctions whipped up as part of a craft cocktail craze. In the 12 weeks to 9/9/17 £76 million worth of rum was sold in our shops and supermarkets a rise of 6% compared to the same time last year.

Sales in the UK’s pubs, bars and restaurants saw a healthy 9% increase compared to the same 12 weeks in 2016. Flavoured and spiced rum has shown strong growth in UK shops and supermarkets up 14% in both volume and value sales – selling over 9.2 million bottles, worth £123 million in the 12 months to September this year.

In the UK’s pubs bars and restaurants Golden has enjoyed double digit growth over the summers months (12 weeks to 9/917) worth £76 million up 14% on last year.

Chief Executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, Miles Beale, said:

“Rum has packed a punch in terms of sales this year benefiting from the nation’s thirst for craft cocktails. We are pleased to see a rapid growth in the number of distilleries in the UK which has enabled our innovative spirit makers to expand their ranges with many introducing a rum into their portfolio. In turn, this has led to more and more rum bars emerging and established bars stocking a greater range of rums behind the bar.”

Peter Thornton, Rum & Cocktail Category Development Manager at Cellar Trends, adds:

“2017 has been a very good year for rum in the UK with consumer interest continuing to grow, and an extremely busy one for Cellar Trends with our varied portfolio. All the signs seem to suggest rum will continue to prosper in 2018 as the number of rums brands, and styles increases further – I’ll raise a glass to that this New Year!”