Leading spirits and wine group Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine (UK) Ltd (ADUK) has confirmed that early Scantrack data covering sales in Multiple Grocers for the four week period to 29th December points to an outstanding performance for ADUK with all core brands outperforming their respective categories.
In the blended whisky category, which grew by +11%, TEACHER'S Scotch Whisky stormed ahead outperforming the category by six times. Over the period Teacher’s was the best performing blended scotch achieving sales volume growth twice that of its nearest competitor brand.
A similar picture emerges in Cognac, growing by +13% during December. This growth was driven by COURVOISIER Cognac, up +30% in December compared to last year. For the 4 weeks ending 29th December, Courvoisier held a 48% share of the Off Trade market, some 19% above its major competitor.
Malt whisky had a particularly good Christmas with December sales growing by +12%. LAPHROAIG Malt Whisky also had a brilliant time in the multiple grocers outperforming the category by +18%. The picture is even better over the 8 weeks to the end of December in which Laphroaig grew by a massive +65% moving it from the No.5 slot to the No.3 top selling malt brand and maintaining its position as the No.1 Islay malt.
Fortified wine as a category delivered +1% in December with Port declining by -5% year on year and Sherry growing by +12%. HARVEYS BRISTOL CREAM Sherry and COCKBURN'S SPECIAL RESERVE Port faired significantly better than the category having both sustained their outstanding annual performance. During December, Harveys increased sales by over 31%, reinforcing the brand’s position as the UK's favourite sherry and brand leader.
Cockburn's Port also more than fulfilled its role as the UK's number one port with Special Reserve alone putting on an impressive +35.6% during the month compared to the previous year. The port market according to Scantrack declined by –5.3%.
The week ending 29th December provided the greatest growth for Port and Sherry over the December period with both categories achieving a +72% increase.
TIA MARIA Liqueur Spirit also 'stormed' out during December selling a massive 57% more over the period than last year. This performance is 3 times more than the liqueurs and specialities category, which grew by +17.1%. Driven by the brand new heavy weight TV campaign 'Come to Mummy' and an extensive programme of 'Tia Maria consumer' targeted promotional activity, through working closely with key customers, Tia Maria grew multiple grocery sales volumes by 18% more than the number one liqueur brand.
Commenting on the data Cathryn Sleight, Marketing Director at ADUK said, "As predicted Christmas was again very late with very high levels of take up during the last week, which in effect meant a monumental two to three day sales period for the trade.
All the evidence points to a very successful Christmas for ADUK with strong performances from all our core spirit brands across the various trade sectors. What is particularly rewarding is to see this level of performance on the back of sustained growth for all of our core brands through out the year. This is a great testament to the hard work, focus and commitment from the ADUK team and a clear reflection on the strong relationship we have with our key retail partners".
~ENDS~
Source: A.C.Nielsen Scantrack for the period ending 29th December 2001. All figures are compared to the same period last year.
