In the trend in the premise: and in premise Rucks-Rum

Fun, pirates, tiki bars, tropical services, mojitos … The connotations connected with rum are printed forever in the mainstream, which makes the category an absolute must in all of the event locations. Despite this mainstream popularity, Rum has recorded a serious decline in sales in the past 52 weeks, which has developed behind the overall market, which means that the category may need to rethink to experiment again.

The category of fifth largest spirits, but declines are obvious

9% of all dollars that were spent on spirits in US bars and restaurants are on a Rum -Serve and make the category the fifth largest behind whiskey, tequila vodka and cordials. Nevertheless, the category loses the proportion of volume by -10%over the past 52 weeks compared to one year. In fact, it is only whiskey -number one in the Spirit industry -that records a larger proportion than rum. In gold, dark and white rum, the declines remain consistent, with golden -11%, dark -10%and white by -9%down.

Premium and the decline in the mainstream

If you look beyond the headlining numbers, there are some fascinating dynamics in the rum category. The category is dominated by the three largest, well-known mainstream brands on site. The top three make up a huge 59% of all sales and drive the performance of the entire category.

This shows that there may be an opportunity for higher premium products to make a dent based on the imagination of consumers. With regard to the proportion, all products that are classified by NIQ as ultra, super premium or premium are exceed in the MID category and steal the proportion on the way.

Lessons too be learned from tequila

In the tequila category in the tequila category, we saw on a much larger scale in dynamics, which has been a top performer in recent years. Since the category is more educated in the category and consumers became more aware of a larger production scale, it was the Ultra and Super Premium brands that promoted the growth of tequila.

This raises the question, could rum do something similar? This will be crucial with influential bartenders – a third of consumers around the world says that their selection of drinks is influenced by the recommendation of bartender.

The cocktail opportunity

And of course one of the main reasons for the success of Tequila was the continued introduction of Margarita at all types of locations. Since the Mojito is advertised as a cocktail of 2025 in the latest industry reports, this should give around an enormous thrust and attract many consumers who may not necessarily arrange the category.

However, it is not just the Mojito; The flexibility of rum means a whole variety of relatively simple cocktails and services such as Dark & ​​Stormy and Mai Tais can help promote the category of cocktail menus.

Can the category grow outside the core markets?

At our OPM database at CGA from NIQ, we can evaluate the sales performance in bars and restaurants in the big city and the state. This gives some interesting possibilities in areas that may not always come to mind when you think of rum.

Florida naturally sees Rum's largest proportion of ghosts (13%), but it is actually in Oregon and Texas, where the category steals the proportion of the subcategories of other minds. Could tailor -made activations in the development markets help brands to be in the foreground in the way of thinking of consumers?

A younger consumer – experience wins!

CGA from NIQ's most recent local user survey, in which 15,000 presumable visitors are thinking of two years, tells us that the average rum consumer is rather male and crooked. This experience is the key to this type of consumer. Group portions in particular should be considered -two in five rum -drinkers say that this type of surcharge is an important buyer in experimental bars and eggs.

To end …

There is still a lot to call to call the Rum category in the Premise, and despite some worrying declines, there are growth and opportunities. The key to brand owners is to revise its operator partners in order to bring the fun back into the category and to inform the consumer in the variety of category and the way in which the cocktail experience can help further increase sales.

Originally published in cash and restaurant news

CGA from NIQ via premise distribution measurements and consumer research results provide much more insights into the category NO- and low alcohol in the USA with an expert analysis of categories, channels, occasions and much more. To learn more about core services and opportunities for tailor -made analyzes, Contact the CGA team.