Rum sales in Ja outpacing global growth
Published:Friday | November 1, 2019 | 12:25 AM
L ocal rum and spirit sales of Campari-owned brands are growing at more than twice the pace of global sales for the Italian company.
Spirits sales in Jamaica of home-based brands such as Appleton Estate and Wray & Nephew Overproof, and other brands owned by Campari that are imported to Jamaica, grew by one-fifth over nine months, while global sales of Jamaica rums in its portfolio grew by single digit.
In Jamaica, sales of the Jamaica rum portfolio, Magnum and Campari, amounted to €71.3 million (J$11 billion), up 21 per cent from €58.7 million a year earlier. This was attributed to the continued strong performance of Wray & Nephew Overproof, up 23 per cent; Appleton Estate, up 50.2 per cent; Magnum Tonic Wine, up 23.4 per cent; and Campari, up 6.4 per cent.
Contrastingly, sales around the world for the Jamaica rum portfolio totalled €68 million ($10.5 billion) over nine months, a near €6-million or 6.2 per cent gain year-on-year.
Campari Group said the Jamaica rum portfolio had “excellent performances in Jamaica, the United States and the United Kingdom, some of which was offset by sales declines in Mexico and Canada.”
The spirit company, meanwhile, is seeking to drive Americans to drink more Appleton rum via “the ‘Everyday People’ series of events launched in Miami and New York, featuring funky music, food tasting and cocktails”.
The events launched in September aim to introduce Appleton Estate “in venues culturally relevant to the target audience,” the company said.
Appleton Estate is also featured in CNN’s ‘100 Club’ programme, which is dedicated to brands that have been around for more than a century.
Overall, Campari Group reported net sales of €1.3 billion over nine months ending September, and pre-tax profit of €245 million. Sales grew 8.6 per cent, but profit fell 1.7 per cent.
The operations in Jamaica are held primarily through subsidiary J. Wray & Nephew Limited.