Daring To Be Different

If you’re selling gin, eccentricity helps, says Gayle Sullivan. If you thought cucumber was cutting edge, how about sea pink flowers from Shetland and gins with vintage variation?

Just Looking at some of the stats surrounding the gin sector, it may look as though the popularity of gin peaked in the era of Sean Connery as Bond, Mary Quant and mini-skirts. But while some of the news is not entirely positive, with even the biggest names finding it hard to emulate the growth of rival spirit brands (category giant Gordon’s recently lost its third biggest spirit brand in the UK slot to Jack Daniel’s whiskey), there is much innovation and bucking of the static and backwards trends as well.

One such good news story is Greenall’s Original London Gin which has seen a 107.53% volume growth and a rate of sale at 76% distribution in the multiple sector.

The recent rapid growth of Greenall’s proves that finding new ways to serve the product helps to win back consumer confidence. The Greenall’s Gin and Tonic can is now the UK’s number one in the G&T-in-the-can sector off-trade, by both value and volume. The product’s distribution has markedly increased and a listing with Tesco has helped boost rate of sale to 7.9 litres per store per week. “After a successful year in the off-trade we are now trying to repeat some of that success in the on-trade,” says Greenall’s sales and marketing manager Alan Robinson. “We’re the fastest growing gin brand in the retail sector and we think we can use this brand awareness to target the wholesale convenience on-trade and the major pub groups and achieve some crossover.”

For long-standing brands such as Greenall’s, innovation sits alongside the basics of price, promotion and position in the marketplace. For new products, however, and the gin category has its fair share of them, an air of exclusivity and an emphasis on education are key, and nowhere is this more important than in the on-trade.

William Grant & Sons had fashionable bars and restaurants in mind when it created Hendrick’s, its smart-looking, super-premium “boutique” gin. Hendrick’s was launched in the heat of summer in only 2003 but its distribution is growing and its Victorian apothecary-style bottle with cork stopper is cropping up on bar menus across the capital. Hendrick’s has a packed promotional schedule for the year including such initiatives as Tea Time Martini – high tea in selected bars with specially designed Tea Cup Martini glasses. The company has also created strong brand identification for its gin. Hendrick’s is infused with both rose petals and cucumber and much is made of the latter in the packaging and promotion, with the hippest bars serving a Hendrick’s gin and tonic garnished with a slice of cucumber.

 “With all our products there is a kind of slow burn approach,” says Jeremiah Courtney, business development manager for the on-trade. “We have started by getting listings in top-end bars and will increase distribution as demand for the product increases. We are already finding that, thanks to the experience of the production team and the resulting quality of product, Hendrick’s is becoming a favourite of barmen and a must-stock gin”.

Organic spirit specialist, London and Scottish International is looking to the “increasing numbers of organic bar, restaurants and hotels” as new outlets for Juniper Green Organic Gin, according to managing director, Chris Parker. “We also promote the organic option, which includes organic beers and wines, to conventional outlets who realise that up to 20% of their customers have a preference for organic products,” he explains.

Larios, a Pernod Ricard brand, is launching Indigo, a super-premium gin specifically for the on-trade. Runner up of the drinks business best design and packaging award, Indigo was launched first in the US then into the UK on-trade in 2006. Jorge Degase, Indigo’s international director, believes there is a “growing trend in the US in the superpremium spirits category in general and gin in particular.”

Blackwood’s Superior Nordic Vintage Dry Gin offers classic gin ingredients combined with hand-picked botanicals from the wilds of Shetland including wild water mint and sea pink flowers. The latter apparently being a traditional cure for sailors’ hangovers! Blackwoods has also introduced the concept of a vintage, with variations in the botanical mix appearing each year.

Blackwood’s works with specialist ontrade sales company, Launch, to target London-based bars and clubs. Recent listings for the gin include the Match Bar Group (Match, Milk & Honey and Trailer Happiness) where Blackwood’s is featured on the latest cocktail menu.

“Blackwood’s strategy for the gin is to aim to enter all of the premium bars and become a brand of choice, asked for by name. The brand is gaining a following among bartenders who are able appreciate the nuances of the variations of the vintages,” says Lisa Grimley, spokesperson for the brand.

Like other new products, Blackwood’s is also going for the softly softly approach with the on-trade and the company is keen that the product, which is being subtly altered with each new vintage, should speak for itself. There are also plans to build on distribution which already includes around 35 top bars in premium on-trade outlets in London. Growth has certainly been impressive, with Blackwood’s gin now available in 28 countries since its launch in 2003.

“Blackwood’s is the first vintage gin and we want it to have a slightly different taste profile with each new year of production,” says CEO of Blackwood Distillers, Caroline Whitfield. “The 2005 vintage has just been released and in its production we used fresh coriander instead of dried. We are in the process of sending out samples to the on-trade so they can try the new vintage for themselves.”

It is clear that new products in the gin category are gaining ground with imaginative USPs and quality products and the hope is that this will revitalise the category in the long as well as short term. And what of some of the oldest names in gin? Well, as with some of the more traditional names in fashion like Burberry and Pringle, they must continue to reinvent themselves and find new ways to get their brand credentials across to the on-trade and consumers.