Irish whiskey sales have remained buoyant in the US last year despite the decline in alcohol consumption, according to the Irish Times.
The Irish Times reported on preliminary data from International Wine and Spirits Research (IWSR), which found that Irish whiskey was the second fastest growing brown spirit last year, behind Japanese whiskey.
Irish Whiskey
Irish whiskey sales rose to 4.65 million cases, up 13.5%.
However, compared to the year before, this figure represents a decrease of 16.3%, driven by the downtrend in alcohol consumption in the US.
Irish whiskey claims 6% of the US whiskey market, and continues to record double-digit growth despite concerns that trade issues will stun growth in its biggest market.
“Spirits and wine showed slight growth in 2018, but those category increases weren’t as high as previous years. It’s clear that Americans are drinking less overall, which is likely a result of the continued trend toward health and wellness,” said Brandy Rand, IWSR’s US President and global chief marketing officer.
“We’ve also seen for some time now that consumers aren’t necessarily loyal to just one category, which leads to less volume for individual brands. Also, the ageing baby boomer population, the largest group of legal drinking age consumers, is contributing to slowed growth as well.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
