Industry Analysis & Industry Trends
The Spirit Production industry has suffered from declining revenue and weak revenue growth for the past five years. Declining per capita consumption of spirits, health awareness and societal concerns about the misuse of alcohol, fierce competition from cider and wine and the recession have all taken their toll on sales. Once the growth category of the industry, ready-to-drink (RTD) spirits have almost halved in sales over the past five years, while supermarkets' own-label spirits have grown to hold a significant share of the market. Exports were the major driver of growth in the industry before the financial crisis, but subsequently slowed as the United States and European markets fell into recession. The industry will demonstrate growth of 2.6%.. purchase to read more
Industry Report - Industry Locations Chapter
The vast majority of spirits produced in the United Kingdom come from Scotland. Scotland is home to over 120 distilleries and accounts for an estimated 96% of industry revenue. Spirits have been distilled in Scotland since the 14th century. With few grapes to make wine, barley beer was used instead to produce spirits, leading to the development of Scotch whisky. The combination of abundant, fresh water, peat and the Scottish climate give whisky distilled in Scotland a unique flavour. Under EU and other laws, whisky may only be described as Scotch whisky if it has been wholly distilled and matured in Scotland for three years.
There are four major whisky producing regions in Scotland: the Highlands, the Lowlands, Islay and Campbeltown... purchase to read more