Au Vodka sees inflight success in travel retail

Showcasing Au Vodka, co-founded by friends Jackson Quinn and Charlie Morgan, the brand’s travel retail arm GMAX is being kept very busy with inflight and airport retailer plans this year.

Speaking exclusively to the drinks business, GMAX Travel Retail founder and director Garry Maxwell said: “Au is just a phenomenon. It’s almost the fastest growing brand in the world. The demographic is 18-35 years and the brand is suitable for the holiday party crowd as well as all of the VIP areas in nightclubs.”

Maxwell told db “It’s the number one premium vodka in the UK. Our first listing was Easyjet last year and we put it in there as one small and one big 70cl bottle but Easyjet asked for a new flavour after just 10 days because it was selling so well. So, we had to put the new flavour on with them within three months. So then we had two flavours, two minis and two large and we sold nearly 400,000 mini bottles in the first year. They sell at £6.95 with any mixer. Blue Raspberry is what people like and they have just launched Strawberry.

Maxwell noted that the brand is being driven by its highly sought-after rsence online and that the uptake of the brand among Generation Z has seen it sell out almost everywhere it is stocked. He added: “What happens is that everywhere it goes, it outsells.”

GMAX Travel Retail was also showing other drinks at the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference and Exhibition, but Maxwell assured that Au Vodka was “what everyone has been talking about the most”.