Diageo owns 18 of the world’s top 100 spirits brands, with Pernod Ricard second with nine, according to IWSR Magazine’s latest rankings.
The top ten positions in the IWSR Real 100 ranking (by volume) are dominated by domestic Asian brands, with exceptionally strong markets for soju in South Korea, local whisky in India and cane spirits in Thailand.
Smirnoff is “the first truly global brand on the list” according to IWSR. Up one place this year to sixth, it sold over 25 million cases across 155 countries.
Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky grew +2% last year, but fell one place to 12th. It is just ahead of Bacardi rum, unchanged in 13th, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey, which rose two places to 14th. “These Western brands don’t completely rule their home markets as they face more competition from other international spirits brands,” said IWSR. “But their global reach ensures that they are still available to hundreds of millions of potential consumers and generally at affordable price points.”
The most-represented category in the Real 100 is whisky, with 29 brands featured. Fifteen of these whiskies are Indian, of which ten are owned by either Diageo or Pernod Ricard. The biggest climbers of the whisky category are Japanese whisky Nikka (up from 96th to 87th place with +12% growth) and Jameson Irish whiskey (up from 48th to 43rd with +12.1% growth).
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Nineteen vodka brands appear on this year’s list. Tito’s once again surged up the rankings with growth of +17.6% in 2017. It means that the brand has leapt from 93rd place to 35th in the space of two years.
The list features six rum brands. Bacardi stays at 13th, Captain Morgan broke back into the top 20 in 19th place, and Havana Club’s +6.3% growth lifts it one place to 67th.
The world’s most popular alcoholic drink in 2017 was the South Korean soju brand Jinro, owned by Hite-Jinro. Almost 76 million nine-litre cases were sold, with Jinro maintaining its dominant number one position from 2017.
Second and third positions swapped places – with Ruang Khao up and ABD’s Officer’s Choice down, although it is still the world’s number one whisky.
“The markets for soju in South Korea, local whisky in India and cane spirits in Thailand are so vast that even those brands trailing far behind Jinro, Officer’s Choice and Ruang Khao sit comfortably within the global top 10,” IWSR said.
