Top 10 travel retail brands

Travel retail has been in for a slightly rocky time in the last year, according to the latest report from IWSR, with overall sales falling -3.3% during 2015, despite a good performance from gin and malt whisky. Following the publication of the IWSR annual Travel Retail Top 100 brands, db takes a look at the top 10 brands by volume and how they have fared in the last year.

10. Martell

Volume sales: 363.6k 9L cases

Martell is Pernod Ricard’s leading Cognac brand (Photo: Martell)

A new entrant into the top ten, Martell was ranked 20^th in 2014, and displaced Famous Grouse to grab its spot in the top ten this year. In its recent results, brand owner Pernod Ricard said travel retail in the US had helped boost the brand’s performance. Its overall performance was relatively flat, despite strong growth in the USA where Cognac sales are buoyant, due to poor Asia sales, but Pernod Ricard says there are ambitious plans in China and Rest of World in order to return to global growth in FY17. The brand, the number two Cognac brand in the world, claims to be the oldest Cognac house, having been founded in the Charente region in 1715 . In September, it released a new expression – Martell Blue Swift, a Cognac VSOP finished in Kentucky Bourbon casks.

9. Ballantine’s

Volume sales: 514.3k 9L cases

Another drink from the Pernod Ricard stable, Scotch brand Ballantine’s fared less well during 2015, falling 12.6%, which pushed it down the list by one place. Blended Scotch had had a relatively tough time in the retail travel market, the IWSR found, with more than half whisky brands suffering declines (although malts tended to fare better). Outside global travel retail, the brand performed more strongly, growing 5% volume growth overall in the financial year, driven by its ‘Finest’ blend and sales in Europe, which helped boost growth for the company’s top 14 spirits and Champagnes.

The Ballantine’s brand was established in 1827, and its Scotch has been in production since the 1860s, becoming one of the first whiskies to exploit the potential of markets in Europe, where is it still strong.

8. Hennessy

Volume sales: 556.8k 9L cases

The leading Cognac brand in the top ten retail lists, Hennessy saw 2.1% growth at travel retail during 2015, with brand owner LVMH saying the travel retail markets acts as an “excellent showcase” for the range. It has also benefited from new comms campaigns, in particular the first global campaign for Hennessy X.O, which was directed by Oscar winner Nicolas Winding Refn.

7. Bacardi

Volume sales: 606.8k 9L cases

It was a tough year for Bacardi at travel retail, as volumes fell -10.3%, causing the rum brand to slip two places in the top ten. The brand is owned by Bacardi Limited, one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world, head-quartered in Bermuda, whose portfolio now numbers around 200 brands. 

6. Smirnoff

Volume sales: 615.4k 9L cases

One of only four brands in growth in the top ten, the Diageo-owned vodka brand saw volume rise a strong 5.7% during 2015, as volumes sales rose from last year’s 582.4k 9L cases, pushing it one place up the top ten. Last year saw the redesign of its No. 21 bottle in an attempt to deliver a “more premium and modern experience” for consumers, supported by a £4.5m marketing campaign which ran across Europe.

5. Baileys

Volume sales: 644.1k 9L cases

Bailey’s, the world’s number one liqueur, also grew in travel retail during 2015, rising 4.8% and climbing one place in the top ten. One of Diageo’s “global giant brands”, the Irish cream liqueur, has increasingly looked to innovation in recent years, with the introduction of a Chocolate variant back in 2013, as well as new Cognac XC hybrid launched this year into global travel retail. It has even embraced the trend for free-from, with a gluten and dairy-free version, using almond milk as a base, as noted by db‘s sister publication, The Spirits Business. 

4. Absolut

Volume sales: 785.5k 9L cases

Compared to the only other vodka brand in the top ten, Absolut suffered a poor performance over the year, with volumes sales sliding -14.5% to 785.5k 9L cases contributing to it falling out of the top three.  Outside of travel retail, its wider sales were also down in value in the financial year, Pernod Ricard said, but underlying trends in the US were “improving” and it was on track to stabilise the brand in the medium-term.

The brand’s Swedish roots hail back to 1879, when Lars Olsson Smith introduced a new continuous distillation process which he used to make his Absolut Rent Brännvin, which was rebrand Absolut in 1979, when the Åhus-made vodka was launched in New York.

3. Chivas Regal

Volume sales: 831.2k 9L cases

Meanwhile Pernod’s Scotch brand Chivas ousted Absolut and crept into third place, despite a fall in volume sales, which saw volumes down 6.3%. The blended Scotch saw a “difficult” year, the company admitted in its latest results, but this year has seen the addition of Chivas Regal Extra – a no-age whisky which uses a higher proportion of sherry casks, and a limited-edition expression The Icon, catering for the Asian market.

Chivas Royal’s spiritual home is Scotland’s oldest operating Highland Distillery, Strathisla, near Keith in Speyside, which traces it roots back to 1786, but last year saw the opening of a new £25m Chivas Dalmunach distillery in Carron, which boosted the company’s production capacity by 17%.

2. Jack Daniel’s

Volume sales: 877.5k 9L cases

Although it retained its second place, volumes of Jack Daniels were also in decline, down 2.5%. However the Brown-Forman owned US whiskey brand has confirmed plans for a $140 million expansion of its distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee – the oldest registered distilleries in North America, which was founded in 1866 – as the brand celebrates turning 150.

1. Johnnie Walker

Volume sales: 2,558.7k 9L cases

Far and away the leading brand at retail, Johnnie Walker sold more than two and a half times its nearest rival. Growth during 2015 was strong, with volumes up 13.4% on the previous year, making it the fastest growing brand in the top ten. Diageo’s biggest and most important brand also benefitted from a campaign from September 2015, not to mention the dozen popular Johnnie Walker Houses, which Diageo is keen to expand. In a conference at the start of the year, Diageo, said it was committed to doing more in airports for its brands and that it was set to boost Scotch investment by expanding its working capacity in the near term, increasing the amount of why laid down for the longer term, and boosting efficiency, to produce more Scotch.