Genever experiencing ‘diverse interest’ in Europe

Sander Meijerink, export manager for Hooghoudt Distillers, explains why Genever’s resurgence provides the perfect point of difference for gin fans.

Genever is the number one consumed spirit in the Netherlands

“With the gin movement growing, I think customers are looking at the background and history of gin and where gin comes from. Genever is actually the godfather of gin, and I think that knowledge and that search brings them to Genever.

“Interest is actually fairly diverse in Europe. Genever is the number one consumed spirit in the Netherlands, and one-fifth of the total [spirits] consumption in the Netherlands. There’s some spin-off in Germany as well. Belgium of course is also a big Genever country, and you can see emphasis now in markets across southern Europe, but also the UK, Scandinavia, the US and as far as Asia, where people really find the product intriguing – a new discovery.

“I think if you’re ‘bringing back’ a category it’s of eminent importance to start with the people who grasped the whole Genever category as one of the missing links, if you will, in spirits. The bartenders, all the way back to the 19th century, were the ones working with Genever and were pioneers of modern bartending.

“So it’s more than logical to get back to that group which is naturally interested in new, creative products, and also has enthusiasm for classic cocktails and the history of spirits. These people are the perfect ambassadors to spread the word of Genever because it gives them a very creative means to add to their palette of products and they are able to recreate classic cocktails which are often now made with gin instead of the original Genever.

“The best way to grow the category is educating, educating, educating – talking to people one-on-one, in groups, whatever it takes. I see that the whole on-trade community as final customers are very, very keen on getting information and they are really open.

“We’ve run some seminars already – we have one of the main Dutch bartenders liaising with us to develop cocktail programmes, and we will be doing this more and more because it is really, really important that we inform the people who need to work with Genever. It’s not just us, other Genever producers are starting to look beyond their Dutch borders and, in the end, the more we as Dutch Genever distillers do together to spread the word of Genever, the better for the category.”