Liqueurs Lifted As Key Brands Show Strength

While top brands weathered the storm, the overall category struggled mightily in 2020.

St. George Spirits distillers Dave Smith (left) and Lance Winters (right) are spotlighting craft liqueurs with new releases.
St. George Spirits distillers Dave Smith (left) and Lance Winters (right) are spotlighting craft liqueurs with new releases. (Photo by Alex Zyuzikov)

Amid challenging conditions in 2020, liqueurs and cordials lost ground, with the total category falling 3% in the U.S. as its gains in 2019 proved short lived due to pandemic disruption. With 17.4 million cases depleted in 2020, the slide is part of a larger trend away from liqueurs in the U.S., which are now at their lowest level since the year 2000. The category excludes flavored whiskies but includes flavored brandy, bitters, anise and pastis, and spirits-based aperitifs. 

As seen elsewhere in the industry, top brands were better positioned to weather the strain of the last eighteen months than their smaller competitors. The top ten brands combined accounted for a total 8.4 million cases in 2020, shedding 2.5% of their volume overall. The rest of the field fared worse, dropping to 9 million cases combined on a 3% decline. Since 2014, the top ten have drawn closer to a 50/50 split with other brands, but a true equal split remains just out of reach. 

The holiday season is traditionally the best time of year for liqueurs, but those expectations were tempered last year by hefty concerns over supply chain constraints. “Everybody’s talking about it regardless of industry or category, but the supply chain is a problem, especially with imported liqueurs,” says Mat Dinsmore of Wilbur’s Total Beverage in Colorado. “Whether hubcaps or computer chips or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, there are constraints when it comes to getting product in, especially going into retail’s busiest time of the year, so it’s been a big problem.” 

Those constraints are a major source of uncertainty, Ryan Maloney of Julio’s Liquors in Massachusetts agrees. “No suppliers can really give me a definitive answer of whether or not they’re going to have certain products,” he says in an interview conducted in October of 2020. “A lot of my salesmen are saying, ‘I had a really good September. I’m having a really good October.’ And I said, ‘Well, hopefully you’ll have a good November and I don’t know what you’re going to be doing in December, because if I keep hearing the news I’m hearing, I’m wondering what you’re going to have to sell in December.’ That’s probably my biggest concern right now.”

Wilbur’s Total Beverage in Colorado (pictured) is struggling to stock liqueur shelves as supply chain constraints continue to halt imports.
Wilbur’s Total Beverage in Colorado (pictured) is struggling to stock liqueur shelves as supply chain constraints continue to halt imports. (Photo by Julia Vandenoever)

Large Brands Shine

Amid challenging conditions in 2020, liqueurs and cordials lost ground, with the total category falling 3% in the U.S. as its gains in 2019 proved short lived due to pandemic disruption. With 17.4 million cases depleted in 2020, the slide is part of a larger trend away from liqueurs in the U.S., which are now at their lowest level since the year 2000. The category excludes flavored whiskies but includes flavored brandy, bitters, anise and pastis, and spirits-based aperitifs. 

As seen elsewhere in the industry, top brands were better positioned to weather the strain of the last eighteen months than their smaller competitors. The top ten brands combined accounted for a total 8.4 million cases in 2020, shedding 2.5% of their volume overall. The rest of the field fared worse, dropping to 9 million cases combined on a 3% decline. Since 2014, the top ten have drawn closer to a 50/50 split with other brands, but a true equal split remains just out of reach. 

The holiday season is traditionally the best time of year for liqueurs, but those expectations were tempered last year by hefty concerns over supply chain constraints. “Everybody’s talking about it regardless of industry or category, but the supply chain is a problem, especially with imported liqueurs,” says Mat Dinsmore of Wilbur’s Total Beverage in Colorado. “Whether hubcaps or computer chips or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, there are constraints when it comes to getting product in, especially going into retail’s busiest time of the year, so it’s been a big problem.” 

Those constraints are a major source of uncertainty, Ryan Maloney of Julio’s Liquors in Massachusetts agrees. “No suppliers can really give me a definitive answer of whether or not they’re going to have certain products,” he says in an interview conducted in October of 2020. “A lot of my salesmen are saying, ‘I had a really good September. I’m having a really good October.’ And I said, ‘Well, hopefully you’ll have a good November and I don’t know what you’re going to be doing in December, because if I keep hearing the news I’m hearing, I’m wondering what you’re going to have to sell in December.’ That’s probably my biggest concern right now.”

Baileys (pictured) has escaped the troubles the liqueur category has seen, thanks in part to the release of flavored offerings.
Baileys (pictured) has escaped the troubles the liqueur category has seen, thanks in part to the release of flavored offerings.

Demographic Changes

Shifting demographics are influencing buying decisions in the category as well. “If you’d asked me ten years ago, I would’ve said our liqueurs consumers were old men,” Dinsmore said. “60% of my customers are women, so that’s who’s doing the decision making. When you look at growth in whiskey, it’s coming from women; when you look at growth in spirits, it’s coming from women. The old guys are still drinking—but there’s also a younger female demographic that’s come of age to all these different flavors that are out there and all the different cocktails they want to make.” 

Prestige Beverage Group’s Kinky brand was up 0.8% last year, reaching 433,000 cases. The brand launched its latest line extension this year with Kinky Fruit Punch, a blend of cherry, orange, and pineapple flavors. It launched as both a liqueur and a canned cocktail, joining the RTD line Kinky launched in March of 2019. Elsewhere, Agave Loco Brands’ RumChata lineup posted the strongest growth percentage of any brand, advancing 15.8% to 550,000 cases. 

No.-3 ranked Jägermeister had the worst year among the top ten brands. Its 22.8% drop to just above 1.1 million cases amounted to a loss of nearly 400,000 cases, putting the brand 1.5 million off its high of 2.6 million cases around a decade ago. Parent company Mast-Jägermeister has increasingly looked to packaging and flavor innovations to reverse the brand’s fortunes.

Disaronno released its first line extension, Disaronno Velvet (pictured) in April 2020.
Disaronno released its first line extension, Disaronno Velvet (pictured) in April 2020.

Luxury Lineups

Italian import Disaronno has been in innovation mode recently. “2020 was our year for innovation for Disaronno, after not having any innovation in our portfolio for 500 years,” Ray Stoughton, executive vice president and general manager of Disaronno International, recently told Market Watch sister publication Shanken News Daily. Disaronno’s core amaretto increased 1.1% to 336,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank. At the forefront of this innovation push is Disaronno Velvet ($30 a 750-ml.), a cream offshoot of the almond liqueur and the first line extension in the history of the brand, which launched in April 2020. “Velvet was an opportunity for us to increase usage occasions on Disaronno and attract a new group of consumers,” Stoughton added. “It was just natural that we would develop a line extension for the brand as we continue to build it. The cream category was also very appealing from a price standpoint. We also launched a Disaronno Sour RTD. Everyone knows how well RTDs have done, and that was another opportunity to attract new consumers into the Disaronno franchise.” 

San Francisco-based St. George Spirits is one of the oldest craft distilleries operating in the U.S. Founded in 1982, its portfolio of liqueurs has expanded in recent years and now includes Spiced Pear liqueur, Raspberry liqueur, NOLA Coffee liqueur, and Bruto Americano. Under head distiller Dave Smith, the company is constantly working to push craft liqueurs forward in the U.S. “We look at these releases as open dialogues in the marketplace,” Smith says. “Let’s take coffee liqueurs as an example. If we make one and the best response I hear is, ‘This tastes just like this other coffee liqueur I love,’ then we’ve failed. Because our job, our obligation, is to build on that foundation our founder set in motion forty years ago and do more than that. We need to add something to the table, we need to add a new point to that conversation, and so we’re really focused on making things that don’t exist yet.” 

French import Grand Marnier, from Campari America, continued its steady growth. It rose 2.3% as it reached 540,000 cases. The brand remains dominant in the over-$25 category and is the only top ten brand at that price point. Its closest competitor in the $25-and-above arena is Cointreau, which trails by 200,000 cases at 345,000 cases, followed by Campari, St-Germain, and Romana Sambuca, all of which are below 100,000 cases. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the brand moved toward digital events, according to Campari’s head of marketing Andrea Sengara. “Our efforts pivoted toward a more dedicated digital focus with an emphasis on virtual Live Grand events, digital trade activation, and collaborations, creating an opportunity to tap into that captivated at-home audience while driving visibility to in-store merchandising,” she says. “Grand Marnier partnered with GQ for its first shoppable video that linked directly to our e-commerce partners, enabling us to reach a wider audience while showcasing Grand Marnier’s incredible versatility.” Reopening has presented opportunities for renewed in-person activations. “Grand Marnier recently welcomed a Grand and safe return to in-person consumer events, participating as the Official Liqueur of New York Fashion Week last September, and we furthered the activation of our Live Grand experiential program in November, immersing media, trade, and tastemakers in the world of Grand Marnier,” Sengara adds. Campari America continues to see substantial gains for both its namesake brand as well as the Aperol brand. Campari was up 15.2% in 2020 to 182,000 cases while Aperol posted 2.9% growth to reach 248,000 cases in the U.S. Campari’s 2017 marketing campaign for the Aperol spritz cocktail was still paying dividends in 2020 as interest in bitters brands continued to grow among consumers. 

Sazerac’s 99 brand also had a strong showing in 2020. Best known for its flagship 99 Bananas liqueur, the brand also markets apple, black cherry, and butterscotch extensions, all at 45% abv. The domestic label has risen dramatically since 2015, adding 100,000 cases between then and 2019 to reach 345,000 cases. It continued that trend with 8% growth in 2020 to reach 372,000 cases. It’s the No.-10 liqueur brand in the U.S. overall and No.-7 within the premium-plus price tier.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Campari (pictured) relied on digital events and e-commerce to help bolster sales and visibility.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Campari (pictured) relied on digital events and e-commerce to help bolster sales and visibility.

Global Outlook

Worldwide performance for liqueurs and aperitifs looks quite different than in the U.S. The total liqueurs market worldwide grew 4% to 49.5 million cases while bitters and aperitifs dropped 10.5% to 29.5 million cases in 2020. Global No.-1 Baileys sold 6.95 million cases worldwide, down 4.5%. DeKuyper, on the other hand, added 1.4 million cases to its U.S. numbers, leaving it with 3.3 million in total. Disaronno was up 1.5% at 1.6 million cases, while Dutch label Bold lost 6.5%, dropping to 1.5 million cases. Jägermeister leads globally among liqueur brands at 6.9 million cases. It shed 1.5 million cases worldwide in 2020, making for an 18% decline. It is followed by Aperol, which lost 7.2% of its volume, basically erasing its gains from the year prior, to land at 5.4 million cases. Besides Jägermeister, Italy dominates the global liqueurs market with five of the top seven brands: Aperol, Fernet Branca, Campari, Camparisoda, and Ramazzotti.