Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
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Rum Update 28 Beverage Dynamics • July/August 2017 www.beveragedynamics.com "The main challenge within the rum industry is the prevailing stigma that rum is not a premium product," says Rashidi Hodari, senior marketing director at Cruzan Rum. "Compared to other spirits, rum is commonly viewed as a value-priced commodity or solely a fruity cocktail ingredient, as opposed to a more complex spirit that can stand alone in a glass." SUPPLIER OPTIMISM "We believe the premiumization of the rum category is just a few years away," says Ned Duggan, vice president, brand managing director for Bacardi. "Its versatility and diversity in profiles has truly awakened the interest in premium rums and continues to drive the upward trend in the category. And they also realize some serious effort is needed to change things. "We believe that what has happened for the other categories, with premium expressions developing - it is time for it to happen with rum," says Dorothée Heriard Dubreuil, director of brand marketing, Mount Gay Rum at Rémy Cointreau USA. "People today do not believe a premium rum exists, and it's our role as the oldest rum in the world for us to educate them on the craft behind the brand. That's what we intend to do." "Rum continues to be a category that has not yet seen the benefits of premiumization trends," agrees Christine Moll, cat- egory marketing director - rums, Campari America. "As such, overall rum continues to be sluggish. But is not all doom and gloom. At Appleton Estate we focus on the premium aged rum segment of the category where we see good momentum and steady growth signaling that consumers are starting to get curi- ous about this segment." Moll mentions Appleton Estate Reserve Blend and Rare Blend 12 YO as examples of expressions that can lead the way, both with double digit growth over the past few years. To fur- ther segment Appleton's reputation as a high-end rum, Campari America recently gave two of the brand's expressions a make- over and a new name: J. Wray Jamaica Rum Gold and Silver are replacing Appleton Jamaica Rum Special and White, respec- tively. The price and the liquid for both will remain the same as their predecessors. "One of the things that rum brands, specifically the aged rum segment, need to do to establish themselves as premium is educate consumers about quality credentials and liquid com- plexity," says Flor de Cana Senior Brand Manager Amy Bidwell. "The rules on rum are so broad and can be confusing, so a lot of rum makers shy away from this. But it's an important step to continue to support the growth of super-premium and ultra-pre- mium brands." Duggan believes establishing agreed-upon standards by the world's rum makers would help. "In order to gain additional traction, we would like to see a category-wide, global regulation of rum. Many countries in the Caribbean region (and across the world) have varying regulations on the production of rum and packaging laws. The category would greatly benefit from consis- tent regulations, which would allow consumers to become more educated on the craftsmanship of rums." CONSUMER EDUCATION NEEDED "Rum is a very misunderstood category, and one of the main bar- riers that the category faces is lack of consumer education. There is a huge opportunity for the industry to create more uniform standards for rum and to better educate consumers. Ultimately this will help the category to premiumize, and become more valued by our customers," Duggan says. This is especially true for Millennials, who are notably brand disloyal and seen as searchers for the new, the rare and the spirits with stories to tell. Getting them to search the rum category the way they have with whiskey would be key, and with few small, independent American distillers creating new rums, it's up to the traditional rum producers. It's not as if the rums aren't out there or that some pro- ducers haven't been trying, says John Eason, COO/EVP at Serralles USA. "A few companies have been working this really hard over the last few years. I think people like Richard Seale [Four Square], Alexandre Gabriel [Plantation], Ben Jones [JM, Clé- ment, Damoiseau], and our own Roberto Serralles are all doing great things to educate people on the category. Rum making has many different styles - I love the pot still versus column still debate, but confusing packaging and bogus age statements hurt the category's credibility." Eason believes rum is starting to break out on the premium, with both bartender and consumer interest on the rise. And some brands, like Don Q and Appleton, have been focusing there for some time. Appleton Estate is in the third year of its "Cane to Cock- tail" educational program aimed at bartenders through tast- ings and blending seminars hosted by Appleton Estate's senior blender David Morrison, with cocktail expertise from a local bartender ambassador. Other rum reps are equally optimistic that rum's time is nigh. "As consumer tastes evolve, we anticipate the demand for