Scotch Whisky Brand Champion 2016

Scotch Whisky Brand Champion 2016: Ballantine’s

Ballantine’s has recently defied category softness

Signs of recovery are beginning to surface for the Scotch whisky industry. Though the sector suffered export losses for a third consecutive year in 2015, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) confirmed export declines slowed to -2.4% to £3.86 billion in value terms and -2.4% to 1.16bn bottles in volume terms – a drastic improvement on the -7% drop the previous year.

Shipments of single malt Scotch rose from £914m in 2014 to £916.4m in 2015, meaning the category now accounts for 25% of Scotch export values – up from 18% five years ago. As the majority stakeholder for Scotch (representing 72% of all sales), the SWA described blended Scotch as a “trailblazer” for the sector, despite recent declines of -1.7% by volume and -3% by value.

Bucking the trend though was this year’s Scotch Whisky Brand Champion – a blended Scotch whisky brand that has beaten its single malt counterparts to the coveted title. As the only truly global blended Scotch whisky brand to have shown signs of growth in 2015, this year’s accolade goes to Ballantine’s. Growing 1.14% in 2015, Ballantine’s has now returned to pre-2011 volume figures against the odds of China’s anti-corruption campaign, political unrest in Russia and Eastern Europe and volatile currency exchange rates.

Katerina Symiakaki, global marketing manager, Ballantine’s at Pernod Ricard, attributes the brand’s success to a “particularly dynamic” South African market, India and Brazil, and perhaps rather surprisingly, Russia and Poland.

“Despite a short term decline in Scotch whisky exports, the long term conditions for Scotch growth remain positive,” added Symiakaki.

“The growth of middle classes around the world and the movement from domestic to imported spirits allows Scotch to take a leading position in capitalising on these transitions due to the category’s increasingly dynamic and aspirational image.

“In addition, premium whisky is a key consumer entry point to international spirits in emerging markets and is forecast to grow significantly over the next three years, and Ballantine’s is committed to outperforming the category as a whole.”

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the rest of our Brand Champions 2016