What you need to know
Estimated at £7.9 billion in 2019, the total UK white spirits and RTDs market grew by 40.9% over 2014-19, driven by inflation, premiumisation and volume sales growth. Once again gin fuelled the majority of this growth, with value sales up 13% over 2018-19. Increasing competition saw a slowdown on previous years though as gin brands promoted heavily, bringing down average prices. Vodka struggled to achieve more than modest growth despite a raft of new innovation, while RTDs were up 6.5% in value.
The craft gin boom has prompted consumers to become more discerning in their selection of white spirits, prioritising unique ingredients (28%), complex flavour profiles (23%) and historical recipes (18%) when considering which attributes they would pay a premium for. This greater scrutiny of product ingredients and production extends to health too, as consumers shun artificiality in favour of naturalness, and seek lower ABV alternatives.
Products covered in this Report
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Vodka is a clear, colourless, almost odourless spirit made from the distillation of potatoes, and sometime from corn, rye, wheat, sugar beet molasses or other agricultural matter. The European Union requires that vodka must have a minimum ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of 37.5%. Flavoured vodkas such as Smirnoff Infusions, which are simple flavoured versions of the base spirit, are included in this Report.
Gin predominantly derives its flavour from juniper berries and falls into two distinct categories: distilled gin is made from re-distilling the neutral spirit of agricultural origin with juniper berries and other botanicals, while compound gin is made by flavouring the neutral spirit with flavourings without re-distilling it and is hence typically considered inferior in quality.
White rum is produced from sugarcane juice and molasses. Unlike dark rum, it is aged in plain oak casks or stainless steel tanks. Bacardi and Malibu are the two best-known brands in this segment.
Tequila is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of the same name in Mexico. Tequila is most often made at 38-40% ABV but can also be produced at 31-55%. Mezcal is made from Maguey, a type of agave plant, although it remains niche in the UK.
RTDs is a trade term used to describe any drink featuring an alcoholic drink and a mixer sold pre-mixed typically either in bottles or cans. They include fruit-, herb-, soda- or water-based, still or carbonated drinks combined with at least one base spirit, and usually have an ABV of 4-6%. Mintel uses the terms RTDs and pre-mixed drinks interchangeably in this Report.
Not all RTDs are made from white spirits (eg Jack Daniel’s & Coke in a can), although white spirits have traditionally been the base spirit for this category. This Report will analyse the whole RTD market, not just those products with white spirits as a base.
The market size includes both on-trade and off-trade sales.
