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Top eight best-selling gin brands

Flavour innovation and major marketing pushes have helped the world’s biggest gin players grow their consumer base. But which brand stormed to success in 2021?

Gin
2021 saw the majority of the world’s biggest gin brands return to growth

The gin category bounced back with healthy growth in 2021. Gin’s total volume increased by 9.5% to 96.6 million cases in 2021, according to Euromonitor International.

While gin growth may be slowing in core markets such as the UK, the category is starting to gain momentum in emerging markets such as South Africa and Brazil.

Across our million-case sellers, all but one brand was in growth last year, with the majority of brands recording double-digit increases.

This year’s best-selling gin list also welcomed one new entrant, while there was a slight shift among the brands in the top positions.

Scroll down to read more about eight of the biggest-selling gin brands.


8. Gilbey’s

2021: 1.3m
2020: 0.6m
% change: 67.2%
Place last year: N/A

The best-selling gin list welcomed a new million-case brand, Diageo-owned Gilbey’s, which saw sales rise by 67.2% to reach the 1m mark for the first time.

The brand had recorded stagnant sales for the last four years.

Diageo noted that the brand helped to increase gin sales in its final six months of 2021, with strong growth in Africa mainly driven by Gilbey’s in Kenya.


7. Hendrick’s

2021: 1.3m
2020: 1.0m
% change: 33.1%
Place last year: 7

William Grant & Sons’ cucumber-infused Hendrick’s brand reported an impressive increase last year, up by a third to 1.3m cases. However, it failed to recover to its pre-pandemic volume of 1.4m cases.

The brand’s sales boost last year could perhaps be attributed to its Summer Escape campaign, Hendrick’s biggest omni-channel campaign to date with a £2.5m (US$2.9m) media investment. The push aimed to reach more than 38.5m people across the UK.


6. Larios

2021: 1.3m
2020: 1.1m
% change: 19.9%
Place last year: 6

Larios, owned by Beam Suntory, climbed by 19.9% last year to reach 1.3m cases, but it wasn’t enough for the Spanish brand to return to its 2019 volumes of 1.5m cases.

Last August, Beam Suntory assumed full ownership of its route to market in Spain following a deal with Edrington. Spain is a strategic hub for the firm, with its Segovia distillery producing Larios and DYC whisky.

At the time, the company’s international president said it had “big ambitions” for its portfolio of premium brands, including Larios.  The firm’s investment in the market could help the brand climb to new heights in the year ahead.


5. Seagram’s

2021: 2.4m
2020: 2.5m
% change: -2.0%
Place last year: 5

Seagram’s continued on its downward trajectory for the second year in a row, falling by 2% to 2.4m cases last year.

The American gin brand became part of Pernod Ricard’s portfolio in 2001. Pernod Ricard’s gin brands sit within a dedicated division, called The Gin Hub.

Pernod Ricard appears to be more focused on its super-premium-plus gin portfolio in recent years with the firm making a number of investments in brands such as Ki No Bi, Malfy and Monkey 47.

The company’s gin sales increased by 4% in fiscal 2021, boosted by a 104% surge in the fourth quarter. The business plans to bolster these numbers by continuing to build its super-premium-and-above offering.


4. Beefeater

2021: 3.3m
2020: 2.7m
% change: 23.5%
Place last year: 4

Beefeater had a more fortunate year compared to its stablemate Seagram’s. The brand saw its volumes increase by 23.5% to 3.3m cases, a major turnaround for Beefeater after it recorded a 20.9% decline in 2020. But the boost wasn’t enough for the brand to surpass its sales high of 3.4m cases in 2019.

According to Pernod Ricard’s financial results for the first half of its 2022 fiscal year, Beefeater increased organic net sales by 31%, with a strong rebound mainly due to on-trade recovery in Spain and ‘outstanding growth’ in Brazil. The brand’s Beefeater Pink expression also continued to record double-digit growth.


3. Bombay Sapphire

2021: 4.4m
2020: 4.3m
% change: 3.5%
Place last year: 2

Bacardi’s Bombay Sapphire brand slipped one spot on our best-selling gin list, despite returning to growth with a 3.5% increase. The brand struggled to reach its pre-pandemic sales high of 4.7m in 2019.

Bombay Sapphire raised the bar in 2021 with innovations from its sunset-inspired gin to the extension of its RTD range. The brand also revealed its aim to be the world’s most sustainable gin.

Plus, with its newly upgraded visitor experience, and the release of its new lemon-flavoured variant, Citron Pressé, the brand’s sales could improve in the future.


2. Tanqueray

2021: 5.6m
2020: 4.1m
% change: 36.3%
Place last year: 3

This year’s Gin Brand Champion, Diageo-owned Tanqueray, saw its volumes leap by 36.3% to 5.6m cases, adding an impressive one million cases from 2019. The increase saw it take over Bombay Sapphire’s position as the second biggest-selling gin on our list.

The company had increased its marketing investment behind Tanqueray, specifically through its ‘Unmistakeably Tanqueray’ campaign.

The gin brand also harnessed the power of celebrities over the past year to boost sales. Actor and Martini lover Stanley Tucci presented Tanqueray-based cocktails from a virtual bar, while musician Joe Jonas was tapped to star in a digital series for orange-flavoured gin Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla in the US.


1. Gordon’s

Gordon's gin portfolio

2021: 7.4m
2020: 6.7m
% change: 11.2%
Place last year: 1

Diageo reigns supreme with its Gordon’s brand taking the number one spot on our best-selling gin list.

Gordon’s rose by 11.2% to 7.4m cases after reporting stagnant sales in 2020.

According to Diageo’s financial results for the last six months of 2021, the brand recorded double-digit growth in Latin America and Caribbean, as well as strong growth in Southern Europe.

In November last year, the brand was given a packaging makeover with flavour and sustainability in mind.

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