Market Watch, December 2020

42 MARKET WATCH MARKETWATCHMAG COM DECEMBER 2020Effen also educates its consumers on its filtration and distillation methods as does Neft Nefts water is filtered for 50 years beneath the Rhaetian Alps in Austria and uses only four distinct non GMO rye grains says Mahony These ingredients are so pure that only three distillations are necessary to create the vodka These sorts of specifics appeal to the inquis itive mindsets of modern shoppers Todays consumers are looking for that information which might not have been the case ten years ago says de Dreuille But today we know that theyre more aware more educated and very very curious to know exactly what theyre consuming Future ForecastSome retailers suggest that the future of the imported vodka cate gory is bleak We dont see strong demand and weve eliminated several brands over the past couple of years says Zaborowski He adds though that its not only imported vodka thats in danger Weve seen an overall decline of all vodka over the past five years he explains This category has become bloat ed The only real standout Zaborowski has noticed in the vodka space of course is the domestic Titos Of Westport Wine Whiskeys 100 vodka SKUs imported vodka accounts for 30 of them Its a similar case at Jersey City New Jerseys Super Buy Rite where imported vodka accounts for less than half of the stores 452 vodka SKUs Owner and president Adithya Bathena notes that while imported vodka brands have inno vated with RTDs they might not have done so soon enough I fear they might be a little late to the party because the hard seltzers have now become a massive category that they have to compete with he says He adds that the entire vodka cate gory is probably in trouble While its a versatile neutral spirit that mixes with almost anything consum ers arent necessarily looking for that right now he explains noting that fewer and fewer drinkers are choosing to drink Red Bull Vodkas or Vodka Cranberries Instead people are gravitating toward sipping brown spirits like Bourbons and Scotches To achieve success marketers say imported vodka brands must continue to set themselves apart while reso lutely moving upscale Weve found that the majority of people in the U S dont think about the vodka category in terms of domestic versus imported says Diageos Ruane adding that because imported vodka tends to be categorically pricier having clearly differ entiated premium offerings is vital Bathena suggests that some imported vodkas that have seen falling sales should play on their pasts to make gains in the future Maybe some brands could cycle through and become nostalgic comeback brands like PBR in the beer category he says Otherwise they should keep innovating and try to go upmarket by creating interesting products and teaching consumers about nuances in flavors ingredients or process mwTOP SIX IMPORTED VODKA BRAND MEDIA ADVERTISERS IN THE U S 1 millions of dollars Percent Change2 Rank Brand Importer 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2018 2019 1 Grey Goose Bacardi USA 269 129 156 252 151 126 281 2 Ketel One Diageo North America 179 101 82 34 28 133 219 642 3 Svedka Constellation Brands 07 68 17 07 06 33 80 4 Cîroc Diageo North America 32 54 89 116 25 72 41 425 5 Belvedere Moet Hennessy USA 37 109 52 02 03 03 26 6 Absolut Pernod Ricard USA 186 237 130 107 106 77 18 770 Total Top Six3 711 699 527 518 319 445 664 493 Other Brands 332 275 200 110 57 143 09 939 Total Imported Vodka 1043 974 727 628 376 588 673 145 1 Includes flavors2 Based on unrounded data3 Addition of columns may not agree due to rounding Sources Kantar Media and IMPACT DATABANK 2020Rather than play into trends Grey Goose senior vice president Martin de Dreuille pictured focuses on touting its distillation and production methods and educating consumers on how its crafted