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Rum Brand Champion 2022: Bacardí
There is no doubt rum is standing tall as a category to watch right now. Producers have launched an array of flavours and blends, and they’re intent on making strides to premiumise their brands and improve the quality of their liquids. Meanwhile, demand continues to rise.
On a global basis, the sector’s total volume sales shot up by 10% to 150.6m cases in 2021, up from 136.9m, according to Euromonitor International.
Reigning supreme in the category following its consistent growth year on year is Bacardí, which saw its sales jump by 14.3% in 2021.
Ned Duggan, global senior vice-president for the brand, said Bacardí has seen growth “across all areas” – “from flavoured rums to our premium range”.
“But we’re thrilled to see most of our growth coming from Bacardí Carta Blanca, our iconic white rum,” he notes. “Our premium aged rums are seeing extensive growth as well, and we’re excited about the ongoing trend of aged sipping rums. Bacardí Reserva Ocho is quickly becoming a star amongst premium dark spirits drinkers.”
In the flavoured rum segment, the brand saw growth from its Limón bottling, plus its Mango Chile expression in Mexico and its Tropical iteration, which launched in the US last year. Bacardí also continued to push its ready-to-drink (RTD) range, Real Rum Canned Cocktails, adding flavours including Mojito and Sunset Punch to the line-up in 2021.
Duggan comments: “We continue to expand the RTD range, which has been a fantastic way to introduce a whole new audience to the Bacardí brand.”
The rum brand experienced an “outstanding year” in Mexico, according to Duggan, and also registered considerable growth in Spain, Germany and the UK. “Finally, India had a strong rebound from the pandemic, so it was great to see our business accelerate there after the ease of lockdowns in that critical market,” he adds.
The brand also progressed its marketing through the strengthening of its e-commerce presence, partnering with retailers such as Drizly and Reserve Bar. Plus, being “closely associated with music”, Bacardí will “continue to invest in music experiential as consumers return to live entertainment experiences”, says Duggan.
“We have pushed ourselves as a brand to be more community-focused and innovative than ever before, through programmes like Music Liberates Music, which gives back to the music community [by introducing] a new ‘Web 3’ revenue model for music artists leveraging NFT and blockchain technology,” he continues.
Elsewhere in the Rum Brand Champions circle, Radico Khaitan-owned Contessa, Ron Barceló’s flagship brand and Campari Group’s Appleton Estate all saw a significant boost in sales from 2020 to 2021, growing by 18.3%, 15.9% and 10% respectively.
Tanduay, the world’s biggest-selling rum and last year’s Rum Brand Champion, saw a slight dip in sales, dropping by 0.8%. Amrut Distillers-owned Old Port Rum was even less fortunate, with sales falling by almost a third (32.3%).
Figures: million 9l-case sales
| Brand | Owner | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | %+/- |
| Tanduay | Tanduay Distillers | 19.5 | 20.1 | 20.5 | 23.9 | 23.7 | -0.8% |
| Bacardí | Bacardí | 16.8 | 17.1 | 17.8 | 19.2 | 22.0 | 14.3% |
| Captain Morgan | Diageo | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.9 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 6.6% |
| McDowell’s No. 1 Rum | United Spirits | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.8 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 3.4% |
| Havana Club | Pernod Ricard | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.6% |
| Barceló | Ron Barceló | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 15.9% |
| Božkov | Stock Spirits Group | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 19.2% |
| Contessa | Radico Khaitan | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 18.3% |
| Appleton Estate (including J Wray & Nephew) | Campari Group | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 10.0% |
| Old Port Rum | Amrut Distillers | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | -32.3% |
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