Hayman’s gin plans global growth

Family-owned British gin brand Hayman’s is gearing up to launch in China and Russia as part of plans to increase its global business by half over the next two years.

150-year-old Hayman Distillers is looking to China, Russia and Japan to increase its global presence

Hayman Distillers, which is celebrating its 150^th anniversary this year, also plans on re-launching the brand in Japan, and has a series of master classes lined up for all three markets in the “imminent future”.

“With six different styles of gin under the Hayman’s banner we are truly able to educate and train up the trade providing world class examples of a variety of gin styles,” said Lewis Johnstone, international sales director for Hayman Distillers. “With the fifth generation of Hayman family in place moving forward, we value our independence and work in most cases with family operated or independent importers.”

Now distributed in around 40 countries, Hayman Distillers claims it is already 18 months ahead of its predicted growth target due to strong performances from its key markets of the UK, US and Spain.

Hayman, which recently brought production completely in-house by building a dedicated still at its headquarters in Witham, Essex – it previously sourced its liquid from Thames Distillers in London – also has plans to broach the travel retail sector in the near future.

“From day one travel retail was always going to play a significant role for the global expansion of the Hayman’s gin portfolio,” Johnstone added. “It was only a question of when. Our progress in the domestic markets in recent times gives us a solid platform to move forward now. Developing the brand proposition for travel retail has to be done correctly. It’s a different universe, and we will be dipping our toes into it quite soon.”

The company expects its current double-digit growth to continue for the coming year, with further distribution in new markets due to come online over the next 12 months.