Northern Irish gin producers help boost spirit exports
Northern Ireland companies are playing their part in what the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WTSA) has described as the "Year of Gin" in 2016 after the category's stunning successes at home and abroad.
Two Northern Ireland boutique gin producers, Shortcross, Crossgar, county Down, and Belfast's Classic Dry Jawbox, have been at the forefront of sales abroad during 2016. In addition, the category in Northern Ireland has seen the emergence of new producers Boatyard Double Gin in Enniskillen, Echlinville Gin, Kircubbin, county Down, and Eight Leaf Gin, Donaghcloney, also from county Down.
Shortcross and Jawbox are now selling in key markets such as the Republic of Ireland, France and other parts of Europe as well as Scandinavia. Both are in line to win business in the US early next year.
Boatyard Gin recently secured its first export business, in the Republic of Ireland, just two months after its launch. Trickle distilled Echlinville, a single estate gin, the most recent launch, is now selling in Britain at iconic retailers such as Fortnum and Mason in London.
Gin is the fastest growing spirit category in Northern Ireland.
WTSA reported that exports of gin had grown 166 per cent by value since 2000 and today represent 11 per cent of all spirits exports from the UK.
Domestically sales passed the £1 billion mark in October and strong sales have continued as the year comes to a close.
As laid out in the WTSA's latest 'Market Report' 283,000 hectolitres of gin - the equivalent of 40 million bottles - have been sold across all channels in the UK in 2016. The trade body calculated that that amount of gin amounted to 1.12 billion gin and tonics consumed over the past year.
Sales were higher in the on-trade, with sales over the last 12 months (to 1 October) up 19 per cent by value on the same period in 2015, and now worth £619 million.
Sales by value in the off-trade were not too far behind however and rose 13 per cent in the 12 months to 5 November to a total of £437 million.
The category has broken through the £1bn barrier, not just for the first time but six months ahead of forecasts - such has been the soaring popularity of the spirit.
Gin has seen six consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in the on-trade - the best performance of any spirit category.
Since the WSTA began releasing its Market Report in 2012, gin sales in the UK on-trade have increased by £300 million - an annual boost of £3,750 to every pub in the country. Sales in the off-trade have grown 68 per cent since 2012.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA, commented: "We hope that government supports our innovative gin makers who have driven an extraordinary increase in UK exports, up 166 per cent since 2000.
"We would like to remind government that cutting excise duty boosts business and brings more money into the Treasury.
"Following the cut in spirits duty in the 2015 budget, spirits duty income increased on the previous year by £125 million (+4.1%) from April 2015 to March 2016 inclusive.
"The UK spirit industry is one of the most heavily taxed in Europe with 76 per cent of a bottle of spirits accounted for by tax, the 4th highest duty rate for spirits in the EU."
