Return to the mix

Thanks to the ongoing cocktail revival and increasing interest from the bar trade, the good times are returning to the once flagging liqueurs sector, as Alan Lodge discovers.

Aside from varying abvs, ever-changing trends and a lack of back bar prominence, there is one major problem when one tries to piece together an overview of the global liqueurs market.

Like late-90s boy bands, reality TV shows and Justin Bieber fans, there are quite simply too many of them.

With defined minimum sugar contents, traditional liqueurs are typically thick, sweet products consisting of a spirit base combined with an infusion of flavours such as fruit, herbs, nuts or mint. Many, such as Bénédictine or Cointreau, have been produced for generations and are classified as full-strength 40% abv spirits. They were traditionally drunk as after-dinner digestifs or on special occasions, though now tend to be consumed also with mixers or as part of a cocktail.

The traditional liqueurs category also includes fruit brandies, which blend grape brandy or alcohol with a fruit flavouring. Products in this category include ranges by companies such as Bols and De Kuyper.

In a market where few consumers are really likely to notice the difference between one shot of raspberry liqueur and another, building brand recognition is perhaps more difficult in the liqueur market than in any other drinks category.

The unique challenge faced by brand owners in this most cluttered of categories is that its products are often used solely by bartenders, and out of sight of the public.

Lack of awareness

Take Wenneker or Volare, for example. While thousands of consumers may well have enjoyed a cocktail containing their products recently, the number of them who would be aware of which brand they were drinking is likely to be minimal. It’s a problem widely recognised by the companies that produce such products.

For example, Richard Ridley, export director at Wenneker, laments: “Customers will rarely, if ever, ask for a Wenneker cocktail.

“The chances are they might well have enjoyed our products in the past, but have not been aware of the Wenneker brand, so it makes marketing to them a lot more difficult.

“In certain bars and markets, the bottles will even be hidden below the counter, and as such the consumer has absolutely no idea which brand they are drinking.”

Such problems have led Wenneker and many other liqueur producers to switch their marketing focus to bartenders, rather than going direct to consumers.

Ridley adds: “It is the barmen who can take the story of the brand to the consumer, so we specifically tailor our marketing towards them and ensure they know we offer the broadest range of liqueurs out there.”

Indeed, Jeremy Hill, chairman of Volare UK distributor Hi-Spirits, is under no illusions as to who exactly the brand must target to achieve growth.

“Volare is a professional’s brand, designed to be used by bartenders who want to offer a wide range of cocktails and long drinks and to change their drinks menus regularly,” he says. “They are the focus of all efforts to grow the Volare brand.”