Shaken then stirred While COVID-19 and its lockdown has proved challenging – especially as the on-trade disappeared for several months – small-batch distilleries have managed to keep supplying avid consumers via online and independent retail channels. CHRIS MERCER finds out how the spirits sector is surviving and identifies a few new trends on the way.
Photo by Adam Jaime on Unsplash
BRITAIN’S NEW GENERATION of smallbatch distillers and drinks makers have shown resourcefulness in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, offering hope for the sector and for independent retailers. Learning new skills in lockdown has been a necessity for producers and shop owners alike, from website design and online Zoom tastings to the altogether different task of making hand sanitiser. Yet, while many have shown a willingness to switch focus and find new ways of working, the immediate economic fallout of the COVID-19 public health emergency still proved severe. Who could have guessed at the turn of 2020 that food and drink sales in cafés, restaurants and bars would fall by 60% in March versus the same month of 2019? That’s exactly what the analysis by research consultancy the CGA group showed.
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HIGH SPIRITS 2020-21
“Overnight the on-trade became nonexistent,” says James Oag-Cooper, MD of Foxhole Spirits, known for making premium gin by using surplus wine grapes. The company had planned a big on-trade spend this year. During lockdown, several retailers reported drinks sales normally only seen at Christmas, especially for wine, but there were also reports of consumers trading down to cheaper spirits brands. In other parts of the ‘craft’ drinks sector, the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) said in April that nearly two thirds of breweries had stopped production. Amid such ongoing uncertainty, what can we say about the condition of smallbatch spirits and drinks makers? And how should independent retailers think about the situation? According to some analysts, we should
not underestimate the resilience of the small-batch spirits market after several years of extraordinary growth. The number of UK distillery businesses rose by 20% last year, hitting 246, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. There were just 110 back in 2015. “The trend for authentic, local, artisan food and drink looks to be here to stay, and that will continue to tempt entrepreneurs and investors into the craft spirits industry,” said UHY partner James Simmonds in midMarch this year. Dawn Davies, head buyer at supplier Speciality Drinks and retailer Whisky Exchange, tells Fine Food Digest that “there will be [financial] casualties this year” but that she is impressed that smaller-scale producers have been willing to invest at a time of crisis. Some larger companies have not been so active, she adds.
A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST
