Irish Distillers said that sales of Jameson, the fastest growing Irish whiskey in the world, passed the 10 million case milestone for the first time in the year to the end of June.
A total of 10.4 million cases of Jameson was sold in the year, up from 8.6 million cases the previous year – an increase of 22%.
Announcing full year financial results, Irish Distillers said the business saw strong growth in the financial year led by Jameson.
Irish whiskey was the third-fastest growing category in the US in 2021, selling roughly 5.9 million cases with sales of Jameson representing more than 70% of total Irish whiskey sales.
The return of travel during the year also saw the resurgence of Irish Distiller’s Global Travel Retail division grow by 157%.
This was along with strong growth in other key markets such as South Africa (+43%), UK (+16%), Ireland (+20%), Poland (+43%) and Spain (+94%).
Irish Distillers said the continued globalisation of the Jameson brand is also reflected in its growth in emerging markets including India, Zambia and Bulgaria all of which surpassed the 100,000 case mark for the first time.
Consumer demand has been trending in the direction of more premium products in recent years, according to Irish Distillers, which is owned by Pernod Ricard.
Irish Distillers’ prestige range which includes the Redbreast, Midleton Very Rare, Spot and Method and Madness ranges, saw growth of 16%, which it said reflects the increase in consumer appetite for premium and super-premium Irish whiskeys.
Redbreast is the largest selling single pot still Irish whiskey in the world, and it exceeded the 100,000 case mark for the first time during the 12 month period under review.
Nodjame Fouad, Chairman and CEO at Irish Distillers, said as evidenced by the results, the company’s whiskeys continue to go from strength to strength in markets around the world, led by the success of the Jameson brand.
“We continue to develop our historically strong markets, such as the US – which reached the 4.5 million case mark in this financial year – while also strengthening Jameson’s brand affinity in new and less-traditional Irish whiskey markets such as India, Zambia and Bulgaria – all of which broke the significant 100,000 case mark in FY22.”
“The growth that we are seeing in these non-traditional Irish whiskey markets is the result of consistent focus and determined brand building and development. Our strategy has been laser-focused on growing the Jameson brand and awareness of the Irish whiskey category more generally. As the results today show, this has been incredibly successful and has solidified Jameson as a truly global brand.”
Nodjame Fouad also said that the much-anticipated return of Global Travel Retail was a hugely positive development this year, as people were able to return to more normal pre-pandemic activities which have in turn supported the growth of our portfolio of Irish whiskeys via this particular channel, concluding, “as we look ahead, we acknowledge that various issues on the global stage are causing uncertainty for both businesses and consumers alike, which is why we will continue to deliver on our business strategy and ensure that we have measures in place to manage any potential challenges.”
Source: RTÉ
