Martell cognac has blitzed the Dark Spirits category in the Drinks Trade 2019 Hottest 100 Brands.
The cognac celebrated a huge sales surge in 2018, up 64.3% to $2,229,000.
“Martell was the fastest growing cognac in 2018 and growing five times faster than the cognac category, with a recently rejuventated packaging refresh,” said Xenia Charovatova, Brand Manager – Luxury, Pernod Ricard Australia. “Martell aims to educate and recruit new drinks to cognac with a dynamic portfolio and newly launched Martell Blue Swift VSOP Cognac finished in Kentucky bourbon casks.”
Martell’s booming sales in Australia reflects the spirit’s growing popularity globally.
For the fourth consecutive year, exports of cognac have increased, reaching record numbers in both volume and value.
With nearly 98% of total production exported, the Cognac appellation continued to grow its export markets in 2018, with growth of more than 3% in volume and 2% in value. 204.2 million bottles of cognac were shipped in 2018 – resulting in 3.2 billion euros (roughly 3.6 billion dollars) in revenue.
The United States continues to be Cognac’s largest market with 87.4 million bottles shipped in 2018. The East Asian market continues to grow, with 60.1 million bottles (an increase of 5.6% in volume and 3.7% in value).
Drinks Trade’s latest issue, featuring the annual Hottest 100 Brands across all sectors, from beer to wine, spirits and apertifs, is out now.
“We believe this list will give you some insight into what has performed well over the past 12 months including what is tipped to continue selling well in your stores in 2019,” notes publisher Ashley Pini.
“So how did we come up with the Hottest 100 brands for 2019? I’d love to say simple, but of course there’s plenty of crystal balling involved.
“We started with raw data, turned it upside down, inside out, and came back to the brands that added the most growth, and ultimately dollars, to your businesses over the last year. That gave us the ‘rear view mirror’.
“To gain an understanding of what’s on the horizon we turned to the professionals. In partnership with the team at IRI, and the buyers from leading Banner Groups, here is a list we hope you find useful – and sometimes eye opening – to help you build sales in your stores.”
Click here to read the full Hottest 100 story.