Vodka relies too heavily on ‘gimmicks’

The premium vodka category is too dependent on “gimmicks” to differentiate itself from entry-level brands, a prominent brand ambassador has said.

Joe McCanta, global brand ambassador for Grey Goose vodka (photo: Grey Goose)

Joe McCanta of Grey Goose said that “gimmicks” – such as filtering vodka through diamonds – are too prominent in the premium market.

He also challenged the impact that such techniques have on flavour and quality, and claimed that consumers are much too intelligent to be won over by tricks that take away from “the truth” behind the production process.

“Brands that filter through crystal or moon rock – they charge a fortune for it,” he said jokingly, “but does it make any impact on quality? I don’t think so.”

“We don’t rely on gimmicks like this” as Grey Goose instead focuses on the “quality of our raw ingredients”, he said in an exclusive interview with the drinks business.

Criticising brands that underestimate the power of the modern luxury consumer, McCanta said, “They have smart-phones in their pocket and can find out the truth about what they are buying. They are interested in the production process behind their luxury products.

“The market should be a reflection of that, with a lot of importance being put on the back-story behind a product.”

However, he acknowledged that vodka doesn’t have the benefit of vintage variation or ageing that other spirits use to communicate quality.

“Vodka is an interesting category; you don’t have the ageing process or the vintages offered by other spirits or wine. As such, the true craft to a fantastic vodka is achieving consistency from year to year, bottle to bottle. What we try to say is that our idea of luxury is about consistent quality, without the gimmicks.”

The growth rate of super-premium vodka has been outstripping the rest of the category in the UK on-trade lately, according to figures from Euromonitor International.

While the total category has declined 2.4% in volume sales in the year to July 2015, super-premium’s share of the market increased by 20% in the same period. Standard entry-level vodka shrank 6.6%, and premium vodka flatlined.

However, the standard vodka market is still 18 times bigger by volume sales than the super-premium sector.

McCanta’s comments will feature in a special focus on ultra-premium spirits in the December issue of the drinks business.