The liqueur brands to watch in 2014

It’s generally accepted that the liqueurs category is pretty stagnant, and has been for some time, but that hasn’t stopped us picking out the three liqueur brands to watch in 2014.

There are plenty of liqueur brands keeping the category interesting for the year ahead

Minor fluctuations in volume for specific brands drove the global volume down 0.3% in 2012, with cream and non-cream liqueurs suffering from a consumer shift toward healthier products.

Some brands have played upon cream liqueurs’ luxury element, encouraging consumer purchases as a one-off treat, particularly in the case of Baileys, which in order to revive flagging sales (global volume fell by 300,000 cases in 2012), redesigned its iconic bottle and logo this year with a more sophisticated, feminine appeal.

Mozart Distilleries has also launched a new chocolate cream liqueur, Mozart RG, packaged in a baby pink foil wrapper, reminiscent of a chocolate box sweet, to give the impression of luxury. Others meanwhile, such as the Distell-owned Amarula, have noted the need to diversify and support sales of its core cream-based product, with a non-cream variant.

The South African brand is launching Amarula Gold, the same double-distilled and oak-matured recipe as original Amarula, but with the omission of cream, across its core markets in Q1 2014. Already available in South African domestic retail, the new product will appear in global travel retail through distribution partner Underberg AG in March 2014.

But this consumer health drive is not only affecting sales of cream liqueurs, and non-creams have spotted the need to shout about their natural ingredients and production processes where applicable. In its first packaging update for 18 years, liqueurs group De Kuyper has taken the opportunity to communicate the use of natural botanicals used in its products.

Return to tradition

As flavoured vodkas embrace ever more sickly sweet flavours, generating consumer fatigue as a result, analysts predict a return to traditional citrus and berry flavours when it comes to liqueurs. This trend is already mirrored in the success of Stock Spirits’ fruit liqueur range Lubelska, which was the only liqueur selling above one million cases to see any growth in 2012 (10%).

We promise to talk about speciality spirits too, and while Jägermeister continues to spearhead the bitter and herbal liqueur category, the word on everyone’s lips in 2014 will be cachaça. With the next FIFA World Cup due to kick off in Brazil in June next year, there’s a major opportunity for cachaça brands to really make their mark on a global stage.

The opportunity is particularly important for a certain brand acquired by Diageo in May 2012. Ypioca already has a strong foothold in Ceara and the north east of

Brazil, and Diageo intends to use the 2014 World Cup to expand its presence across the rest of the country. There are also plans to improve the brand’s leverage in other markets around the world, particularly the US where cachaça is now recognised as the spirit of Brazil, rather than a type of rum, following an agreement between the two countries in February this year.

Click through the following pages to discover our pick of the three liqueur brands to watch in 2014.

Amarula

The first product extension from the South African brand in 25 years is already setting tongues wagging. As the world’s seventh-largest liqueur, and second-largest cream liqueur, Amarula’s new Gold extension could attract a whole new collective of consumers already in love with the brand’s flavour but afraid of the cream aspect. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Ypioca

Already one of the world’s leading cachaça brands? Owned by the world’s largest spirits group? Major sporting occasion on home soil? Ypioca has it made as far as we’re concerned and could easily become the world’s leading cachaça at some point in the future. Although it still needs to grow by some 12 million cases to wrestle that title from Companhia Muller de Bebidas’ Pirassununga 51.

Grand Marnier

The traditional orange Cognac liqueur has been repositioning itself in recent months. In an effort to attract Russians and the Chinese in particular, Grand Marnier has been repackaged in a Parisian-themed red box in both domestic and travel retail. Flavoured extensions – such as Raspberry and Peach – continue, as does the drive behind its Louis Alexandre expression, which contains a higher percentage of Cognac.