For a category that harbours premium ambitions, rum faced a tricky 2016. The Spirits Business looks to the brands pushing against the barriers that face the world’s third-largest spirits category.

Rum producers are playing to a small but increasingly powerful pocket in the market

Despite forecast volume sales gains of 0.7% for the year (all data courtesy of Euromonitor), values look likely to contract by 0.1%. While a blow for distillers and marketers looking to raise the category’s credentials, the stats do point to an improving picture. Value gains remain stubbornly low, but predicted 2017 year-on-year growth is set to run at 0.4%, compared with 0.9% in value terms.

The numbers suggest consumers have a taste for rum, but they don’t necessarily want to pay for it. This hasn’t stopped producers playing to a small but increasingly powerful pocket in the market. It would appear the falls in headline value mask a move towards genuine innovation.

“The rum category, in particular the super-premium sector, has seen strong growth,” Carl Stephenson, UK-based founder of Elements Eight rum, said, as the company unveiled a higher-end redesign in July. With the re-pack, he is pushing the artisanal craft cues that resonate with millennials, and he seems confident this is arriving in rum, too. Others are pushing premiumisation: “In 2016, we saw the acceleration of the upward trend for premium and super premium rums,” says Matthieu de Lassus, export director at Spiridom. For him, “super-premium innovations like single casks are driving interest.

This year has also seen price rises slip into agricole. Trois Rivières championed the category through initiatives such as food pairing, while La Martiniquaise’s Saint James went down the auction route. Those who don’t see agricole premiumising should remember this year’s UK RumFest auction: a Saint James 10-year-old single cask fetched £3,100 (about US$3,850).

And what about when consumers do start to embrace the world’s third-largest spirits category? The continued emergence of rum-producing regions beyond the Caribbean and Latin America suggests there will be plenty to tempt the adventurous palate.

“With their increasing knowledge and penchant for the category, consumers like to learn more about rum and its history. Then they discover that Asia and parts of Africa are great producing and consuming regions too,” says Gautom Menon, chief brand officer for India’s Wild Tiger Rum.

Cambodia’s “first and only” rum producer, Samai Distillery, opened its doors in October after securing more than US$1 million worth of investor funding, while the husband-and-wife duo behind Dark Matter Spiced Rum started a crowdfunding campaign to set up Scotland’s second rum distillery.

Despite the sluggish 2016, drinks groups are backing rum. Halewood International took a partial stake in Bajan Trading Company and its Rum Sixty Six, produced at the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados.

“Rum Sixty Six offers a fantastic platform for Halewood to invest at the premium end of the rum category,” said Stewart Hainsworth, Halewood CEO. Speaking to The Spirits Business in April 2016, he said: “There are opportunities there, particularly looking from an inorganic and also an organic point of view. I also think on the rum side… it’s about touching on expertise and provenance of liquid.”

What will be the barrier to securing this presumed holy grail of premiumisation in 2017? Standing out beyond other spirits is one thing, as is getting imbibers to take rum serves seriously. But even more so is the need for brands to turn on the charm. “Consumers can only be lured and remain loyal if they can feel the emotive connect,” says Gautom. Hearts and minds is where the premiumisation battle will be won.

Click through the following pages to see our pick of the rum brands to watch in 2017.

Trois Rivières

The agricole rhum brand has stepped up its bartender competition, Trois Rivières Rhumbellion, as it returns for its second edition. With the brand evangelical about agricole, it will be interesting to
see if on-trade perceptions are influenced.

Samai

Cambodia’s “first and only” rum distillery secured US$1 million in funding this year. With investment in place and a burgeoning consumer interest in geographically diverse rums, will Samai take off on the international market?

Havana Club

The Pernod Ricard vs. Bacardi US trademark battle rumbles on, but Donald Trump’s surprise election victory could throw another spanner in the works. Is the ‘normalisation’ of US-Cuba relations off the table? Either way, 2017 is likely to be another tempestuous year for the brand.

Key trends in 2017

• Rum is set to get funky as pungent agricole rhums take greater strides in the mainstream spotlight.

• As consumers seek out rum education, we will see calls for more category definition – especially surrounding youngest versus average age. This will influence branding and product development.

• We’ve seen it with whisky, now keep an eye out for the emergence of ‘new world’ rum- producing regions. From Scotland to Cambodia, expect distillers and brands to gain more prominence as consumers seek out new and intriguing products.