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Young Scots are enjoying the "Water of Life"
contributing to Scotch Whisky record annual sales globally totalling
over several billion euros but the tipplers, aged up to and around their
mid-20s, are embracing the amber nectar very much on their own terms.
Significant numbers are experimenting but very much with moderation in
mind, more health conscious and drinking less. Dabbling with new
flavours but simultaneously seeking out and expecting more ethical and
sustainable credentials from the liquid gold.
A 500-year-old industry, deeply steeped in tradition and laden with
trade secrets, has entered a new era. The sector is responding to this
new generation with their more discerning palates as it signals it has
well-and-truly shrugged off COVID economic headwinds.
Also global supply chain disruption to once again be an anchor of growth
supporting investment and job creation, not only across Scotland and the
rest of Britain also to the benefit of Europe and the rest of the world.
Scotch continues to negotiate various international tariff barriers and
other bureaucratic hurdles but its enduring mystique, full of creative
processes, can never be taken for granted in a crowded global
marketplace.
To be expected, this time of the year witnesses mass advertising
campaigns. The New Year "Hogmanay" celebrations seamlessly followed by
the Robert "Rabbie" Burns season full of heritage-led cultural, music,
song and poetry impacting on the farthest corners of the planet well
into Springtime.
A veritable cask full of well-known brand names range from Lagavulin
16-year-old Islay Single Malt to The Famous Grouse, and the industry is
also mindful these are digital times.
One example is market leader Johnnie Walker, whose "Journey of Flavour"
at the West End of Edinburgh's famous Princes Street, represents a
sensory tour where, using artificial intelligence (AI), whiskies
tailored to suit the palate of customers involve a reputed 800 flavour
combinations. Return trips are on the cards.
Distilling down the global whisky market reveals post-pandemic record
breaking overseas sales involving a sector enjoying more than a
glass-half-full in terms of confidence that has seen investors during
the past decade backing, on average, three new distilleries opening each
year in Scotland.
With 2023 expected to outdo the previous year's total of what was a
record £6.2 billion, this year will continue the trend where whisky
accounts for over three-quarters of Scottish food and drink overseas
sales and viewed as the UK's leading food and drink export, such is its
global appeal.
The Asia-Pacific region has now overtaken the European Union as the
industry's largest regional market with double-digit growth in Taiwan,
Singapore, India and China, with the latter engaged in a first-ever malt
whisky launch by Scotch distiller Chivas Brothers, owned by drinks giant
Pernod Ricard.
More established EU markets such as France, German and Spain markets are
taking stock and hopeful of a bounce-back during 2024. India has
replaced France as the largest Scotch Whisky market by volume.
A UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deal easing a massive 150 per cent
tariff burden on the product is giving market access there a further
boost, leading to an additional expected 1.1 billion euros worth of
growth over the next five years, reports the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).
In North America, United States sales have continued to recover
following an impact of tariffs there on Single Malt Scotch Whisky, to
again be the industry's only market with exports valued at over one
billion euros, and both Mexico and Canada have also experienced growth
underlining the importance of securing further market access wins,
through a renegotiation of the UK's FTAs with both countries.
The sector's longevity depends on adapting and working hard to safeguard
the environment upon which its very existence depends.
The good news is Scotland's near 150-strong distilleries are busy
transforming their way of working in a collective bid to eliminate
ecological impacts and rise to the challenge of reducing emissions
across the board.
It was also uplifted by the move, late November, by UK Chancellor of the
Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to freeze duty which the SWA describes as
providing a "much needed stability" for the sector, distillers, supply
chain and ultimately consumers.
Marketing Week points to "an unusual drinkers' profile", peaking at the
extreme ends of the age spectrum among under-25 and over-55-year-olds,
confirming that incidence of drinking is at its lowest in the 25-to-34
age group.
Older drinkers continue to represent the most important segment of the
whisky market when it comes to overall sales, making up around 33 per
cent compared with 12 per cent aged under-25.
It is here brands require to appeal to a "New Age" with some
commentators claiming a "future-proofing" to meet the needs of a
changing consumer landscape must not be overlooked.
Where the mid-20s also known as Gen Z consumer comes in with their
discerning palate and willingness to experiment, is by representing more
than significant purchasing power involving a spend equating to in
excess of 130 million euros worldwide, dwarfing older Millennials and
Gen X.
A Business Insider (BI)/YouGov survey reveals that unlike Millennials
who largely entered the workforce in the shadow of a global financial
crisis, Gen Z has no such reservations, emboldened by a relatively
strong jobs market and questioning norms and pushing boundaries whether
it be the employment stakes or their social lives.
Gen Z attitudes represent a sign of the times. SWA reminds the
marketplace "alcohol is alcohol" and the association supports a World
Health Organisation goal of reducing harmful drinking by 10 per cent by
2025, and recognises the complexity of issues around tackling and
reducing alcohol-related harm.
SWA says this cannot be delivered through legislation alone and
voluntary and self-regulatory approaches continue to have a critical
role to play. Through partnership-working, strict enforcement of current
laws in conjunction with responsible marketing and retailing to make a
sustained contribution towards reducing harmful drinking.
One factor remains immutable. Scotch must be produced in Scotland
employing cereal, water and yeast, oak matured for a mandatory at least
three years.
The amount of alcoholic drink lost to evaporation is taken strictly into
account, when the liquid is being aged in the porous oak barrels and
amounting to as much as one per cent of volume lost in a year.
Of course, this is The Angel's Share, made into a film of that name
winning the 2012 Cannes Film Festival "Jury Prize", the third most
prestigious award, plus gaining a nomination for the Magritte Award for
Best Foreign Film in Coproduction, awarded annually by Belgium's
Academie Andre Delvaux principal film awards.
It's as crystal clear as the best single malt: Scotch Whisky continues
to adapt to the times and be around for another 500 years. "Slainte
Mhath"... |
