2 September 2022
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Jameson achieved strong sales in key markets including a resurgence in Global Travel Retail (+157%); South Africa (+43%), UK (+16%), Ireland (+20%), Poland (+43%) and Spain (+94%)
Irish Distillers, producer of some of the world’s most well-known and successful Irish whiskeys, has today announced full year financial results for 2021/2022 (ending 30 June 2022), with the business experiencing strong growth in the financial year led by Jameson which surpassed the 10 million case milestone for the first time.
Jameson, which is the fastest growing Irish whiskey in the world and one of the Top 5 International whisk(e)y brands in the world, sold 10.4 million cases in 2021/22, up from 8.6 million cases in FY21.
Irish whiskey was the third-fastest growing category in the US in 2021[2], selling roughly 5.9 million 9L cases with sales of Jameson representing more than 70% of total Irish whiskey sales. This success continued into FY22 with sales of Jameson outdoing previous records selling 4.5 million cases to the end of June 2022 and setting a new record for the brand in the US.
The return of travel in this period saw the resurgence of Global Travel Retail (+157%) coupled with strong growth in other key markets such as South Africa (+43%), UK (+16%), Ireland (+20%), Poland (+43%) and Spain (+94%).
The continued globalisation of the Jameson brand is also reflected in the brand’s growth in emerging markets including India, Zambia and Bulgaria all of which surpassed the 100K case mark for the first time.
In recent years, consumer demand has been trending in the direction of more premium products. The global growth of Irish Distillers’ prestige range (+16%), which includes the Redbreast, Midleton Very Rare, Spot and Method and Madness ranges, reflects the increase in consumer appetite for premium and super-premium Irish whiskeys. Redbreast, built on a loyal following of ‘those in the know’, is the largest selling single pot still Irish whiskey in the world, and in FY22 it exceeded the 100K case mark for the first time.
Nodjame Fouad, Chairman and CEO at Irish Distillers said: “We are immensely proud of the strong performance of our full portfolio of Irish whiskeys. As evidenced by our results today, our whiskeys continue to go from strength to strength in markets around the world, led by the success of the Jameson brand which surpassed the incredible 10M case milestone in the 2021/2022 financial year.
We continue to develop our historically strong markets, such as the US – which reached the 4.5M case mark in this financial year – while also strengthening Jameson’s brand affinity in new and less-traditional Irish whiskey markets such as India, Zambia and Bulgaria – all of which broke the significant 100K case mark in FY22.
The growth that we are seeing in these non-traditional Irish whiskey markets is the result of consistent focus and determined brand building and development. Our strategy has been laser-focused on growing the Jameson brand and awareness of the Irish whiskey category more generally. As the results today show, this has been incredibly successful and has solidified Jameson as a truly global brand.
The much-anticipated return of Global Travel Retail – a market in which I worked for many years – was a hugely positive development this year, as people were able to return to more normal pre-pandemic activities which have in turn supported the growth of our portfolio of Irish whiskeys via this particular channel.
More locally, the spirits’ market in Ireland generated volume growth of +8%[3] in calendar year 2021. Against this backdrop, our portfolio of premium spirits brands has recorded strong volume growth during 2021/2022 with Jameson (+20%), prestige Irish whiskeys (+26%) in the domestic market.
As we look ahead, we acknowledge that various issues on the global stage are causing uncertainty for both businesses and consumers alike, which is why we will continue to deliver on our business strategy and ensure that we have measures in place to manage any potential challenges.”
