Demand By Millennials Drive Growth Of Irish Whiskey In The US


03/18/2019



Millennials have been blamed for rejecting the canned tuna business along with motorcycles and diamonds in the United States. However there is one industry that is benefiting from its popularity among the millennials - Irish whiskey.
 
According to the Irish Food Board, there has been a 61 per cent growth in the volume of Irish whiskey sold in the U.S. in the last five years. There was a 9.4 per cent growth in sale in 2018 alone which resulted in generation of revenues worth $1 billion for distillers.
 
According to David Ozgo, the Distilled Spirits Council's chief economist, 2018 was also the straight ninth month where in the sale of spirits were more than that of beer in the US. 
 
Ozgo said that the willingness to expend more on higher quality alcohol was partly responsible for the American millennials driving up growth in the sale and revenues in the Irish whiskey business in the U.S.
 
However, Irish whiskey still accounts for less than 3 per cent of the case volume of all spirits sold globally, despite the growth of the Irish spirit in the U.S. and other markets of the world. However, that trend is being attempted to be changed by spirits companies by focusing on and making more expenditure in marketing efforts for different spirit brands. For example, the marketing expenditure was increased by more than 20 per cent compared to previous years by Diageo when it re-entered the growing market in 2017 with Roe & Co. Diego is the largest spirits purveyor in the world.
 
The speciality of Irish whiskey is that it is generally smoother and less smoky compared to the more famous Scottish scotch and is also less sweet compared to the American and Canadian whiskey.
 
The market leader in the segment is Jameson which is owned by French spirits giant Pernod Ricard. However there are also some new entrants that are trying to create a niche for themselves in the market. Cooley, Irish Distillers and Dingle Distillery were the only three distillers present in Ireland in 2013. And currently, according to the Irish Food Board, there are 18 facilities with eight more soon to start functioning in the country.
 
Over the years, cocktails featuring Irish whiskey have gained in popularity among the menu items, Ozgo also noted. About half of its menu to such cocktails is devoted by New York City's The Dead Rabbit, named the World's Best Bar in 2016 by Drinks International. Additionally, the bar tenders there have also been trained to aid customers to know more about the alcohol.
 
"What I generally see is, people say whiskey as a general term, and then that's where we say, 'Well, Irish whiskey is a huge part of our DNA and what we're known for,'" Jillian Vose, the bar's beverage director told the media in a television interview. .
 
(Source:www.cnbc.com)