Spiced rum category “on fire”

The rum category is “on fire”, according to a leading UK distributor.

“Rum is such a hot sector at the moment, and we’re running with it,” said Dave Steward, business development director of The Kraken Black Spiced Rum distributor Marblehead.

“It’s all happened so fast with The Kraken. There’s so much activity in the spiced rum category, with a lot of the standard brands bringing out spiced versions, but we don’t want to get too close to it and embroiled in rum wars  – we’re keen to plough our own furrow.”

Steward has noticed that The Kraken is attracting the attention of drinkers from other categories: “We’re getting the bourbon drinkers and the Hendrick’s lovers. It’s great for the rum category as a whole to have so much consumer interest.”

The entrepreneurial distributor predicts a surge in new rums coming onto the market next year: “We’ll see a lot of new lines, many will fall by the wayside and we’ll be left with the decent ones.

“It’s great that rum is stealing the spotlight from vodka a bit, which has been grabbing all the headlines for too long.”

According to Steward, it is an exciting time for the spirits industry, with a wealth of opportunities for entrepreneurial companies to launch new brands: “There’s fruit for everyone now, the door is wide open. It used to be really hard to develop brands in the UK, but things have changed – the UK is ripe for innovation.”

Marblehead has recently acquired Polish vodka brand Davna, releasing Davna Czeri Cherry Vodka in the UK this week, with a honey version set to launch early next year.

The Kraken Black Spiced Rum launched in the UK this January.