June 13th, 2025: Online alcohol sales and other news
Digital alcohol sales growth forecasts, 2024 report from France, the rise of RTD, Tequila exports, Indian spirits stocks and Maharashtra, feni and more...
Good morning from Venice mainland, Italy (again, incredibly…)
Digital alcohol channels tu surpass US$36bn by 2028
IWSR has released a new report about online alcohol sales. Forecasts say this channel is entering a new era of sustainable growth and e-commerce sales of beverage alcohol are expected to surpass US$36bn by 2028, with a 20% increase in value over the next five years.
You can read a detailed article on Global Drinks Intel, signed by IWSR itself:
Online alcohol sales to surpass US$36bn by 2028 – Consumer Intel
We already talked about market forecasts and you know we cannot take everything for granted (the pandemic has taught us, painfully).
But, what does this mean for producers, distributors and sales teams?
I’m not into sales (not any more), so I’m not here to tell you what to do, but I’m pretty sure you will need a strategy for that, at each level. And you will need to insist on data analysis.
Meanwhile, I found something interesting on IWSR’s website, that may help you better understand how forecasts work. It is an interview-style podcast about the most recent reports by the data analysis company, but it also gives a little explanation:
(remember, IWSR sells companies its services, but this looks well-made and interesting to me, not promotional)
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Spirits, a lucid report from France FFS
The Fédération Française des Spiritueux (FFS) released a report about 2024 trends. Christine Lambert is reporting that on Whisky Magazine France, you can read it here:
Noticing the difference between FFS president Guillaume Girard-Reydet’s statement and what we red yesterday from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI)?
FFS is also underlining spirit tourism performances. Going back to Ireland, the Irish Whiskey Association knows tourism importance very well and they are doing a great job with data release about this topic, showing how spirit tourism is benefiting local communities. Here is last year’s press release, in case you’d like to read it:
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I found an article about high end Scotch whisky market slowdown, but I think you’ve had enough of this in the last press reviews. You can read it here, if you like.
I’d rather focus on something different today:
RTD growth explained
Melita Kiely is investigating about the rise of RTDs on The Spirits Business through an interview to Whitebox Cocktails’ co-founder, Josh Rennie and Fever-Tree communications manager, Chrys Salter:
I found some words by Rennie about on-trade sales quite significative: «Venues charge £10 to £15 [US$14-US$20] for poor drinks and expect it to work. A well-served Whitebox cocktail can outperform most cocktail menus instantly. It is a huge opportunity for Whitebox if taken seriously». I guess that is the same for any RTD producer with convenient prices.
Here is Whitebox Cocktail’s online shop, just for a rough check.
Is any of you selling RTD? have you tried some good ones? Let me know what you think.
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Mexico:
Tequila export to the US fell by 2% between January and April
I leave the causes to your imagination… You can read the news by Ivette Saldaña on El Universal:
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India again
Spirits stocks fall in India as Maharashtra state raises alcohol duties
The Maharashtra government has raised the excise duty from three times the declared manufacturing cost to 4.5 times. This caused liquor stocks of companies, such as United Spirits, Allied Blenders and Distillers, Tilaknagar Industries (we already talked about them and their potential acquisitions in June 6th press review), Radico Khaitan, and Piccadily Agro Industries, to fall by up to 7%. You can read the news by Chitranjan Kumar on Fortune India:
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I’ll stay in India to suggest something interesting to read in the weekend.
What is feni spirit?
Feni is the only spirits with a GI in India and it originally comes from the state of Goa. It is typically made from fermented cashew apple juice or coconut sap.
Georgie Collins is comparing it to Tequila in his article for The Spirits Business. I don’t think there is much to compare at the moment, you know, us journalists are always looking for a sensational news somewhere… or maybe they just needed that title for indexing purposes. But the article is interesting anyway ;)
I don’t know if it is going to be «Gen Z’s ‘next liquid obsession’», as Room Two co-founder Matt Kern says, but I would sincerely keep my fingers crossed for that. It would mean they are curious about very specific and sophisticated spirits (which is good news for all of you out there).
I’m leaving you with a couple more articles about Feni here:
(by Giulio Benvenuto on Whisky Club Italia’s Blog, Daily Dram)
(Rojita Tiwari on Rumporter)
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Have a lovely weekend you all.