Free digital copy
Get Speciality Food magazine delivered to your inbox FREE
Get your free copy09 December 2016, 06:20 AM
- Retailers, bars and pubs sold the largest volume of gin on record in 2016, six months ahead of forecasts
A report by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) shows that the UK’s love of gin continues to grow, as sales of the spirit in shops, supermarkets and off licences have increased by 68 per cent since 2012.
According to the report, the market is currently booming due to customers opting for more premium and artisan options.
Exports have also been boosted by the overseas popularity of franchises such as Downton Abbey and James Bond, which helped to sell £159m worth of British gin to America in 2015, claims WTSA. Gin exports to the USA have risen by 553 per cent in the last decade.
40 new distilleries have opened in 2016, says HMRC, with some experimenting with ingredients like seaweed, acorns, grape skins, acorns and ants.
WSTA reports that three out of every four bottles sold around the world are produced in the UK.
Miles Beale, chief executive of WSTA said, “There are many reasons why people may not feel like celebrating 2016, but the WSTA are pleased to give you something happy to reflect on - 2016 can now be remembered as the ‘Great British Gin Take Off’.”
He added, “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.
“Let’s make sure gin continues to boom in 2017.”
