Super-premium Brockmans Gin toasts record sales for the first half of 2016 as it basks in UK gin renaissance and expands overseas
Brockmans Gin has served up record sales for the first-half of 2016 as super-premium gin continues to grow in popularity both in the UK and abroad.
Total revenue grew 116 per cent in the first-half of 2016 to £2.6m as the company capitalised on the growing gin renaissance in the UK where sales are expected to hit £1bn this year.
Brockmans is distilled in England using 11 quality botanicals from around the world and bottled in Lancashire. The UK and Spain account for more than half of the drink company's sales. In the UK, revenues leap 236 per cent in the six months to 30 June.
The gin company, first launched in 2008, reached new agreements to be sold in Punch Taverns, Wine Rack off-licences as well as Harvey Nichols and more than 100 branches of Marks and Spencer.
“Drinking habits have changed dramatically in the last five years and the premium gin market has been one of the biggest winners. The emergence of new-style gins and premium mixers is driving sales before food, particularly in gastro pubs,” said Neil Everitt, Brockmans’ joint founder and chief executive.
“The gin and tonic many of us grew up with was very traditional, with a nameless mixer. Gin as a category had not innovated at all until a decade ago. We wanted to make a really smooth gin, easier to drink than London dry.”
The company, which is backed by 30 shareholders and reinvests its profits, has also enjoyed a Brexit boost. “It’s early days but so far Brexit has been a bit of a tonic for us as the exchange rate has boosted the sterling value of our sales in Spain, which remains our biggest market,” says Everitt.
In the first half of the year, Brockmans continued its expansion overseas, entering new markets such as South Korea, Indonesia, Peru, Finland, France and UAE. Brockmans is now sold in 26 countries, with Spain, Germany and the US the three largest export markets.