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Rum flavour map launched to aid ‘confusing’ category
A major new initiative has been launched to help consumers understand rum, which has been called disjointed and in danger of “not being taken seriously”.
Flavoured rum and gin experienced strong growth over the past quarter
The launch of a rum flavour map – similar to the one currently used by the Scotch whisky industry to differentiate between regions – is being trialled in the UK on-trade.
By categorising flavours of rum into three main styles – English-style rum, Spanish-style ron and French-style rhum – it is hoped consumers will understand the spirit more clearly, giving them confidence to choose a brand outside their comfort zone.
Designed by French West Indies rum distributor Spiridom, which looks after Rhum Clement and Rhum JM, the rum flavour map is being made available for the entire industry to use.
Matthieu de Lassus, export director for Spiridom, claimed the map could help rum on its way to becoming the next great spirit trend.
“Our main intention is to better segment the rum market in order to create the necessary conditions for premiumisation,” he said.
“Rum is the third biggest spirit category in the world and bartenders’ preferred spirit for cocktails. It has enjoyed steady growth worldwide for the last 10 years but still rum is the only spirit category to remain largely underpremiumised to date.
“We believe that premiumisation will only come through a better education of our customers and a better segmentation of the rum category.”
De Lassus added that while consumers currently trial new rums in the on-trade, they stick to well-known brands when buying in both domestic and travel retail.
“Without clear classification and information, customers can only rely on price, packaging and well-known international brands,” de Lassus added.
“If we do not manage to promote a simple segmentation, and to clarify the existing offer, my fear is that all our new customers will eventually turn away from this new-born premium rum category and return to other spirits categories which could be perceived as more ‘serious’.”
A high resolution version of the rum map can be downloaded here.
For further information, contact Matthieu de Lassus at matthieu.delassus@spiridom.com.