Irish whiskey cocktails have become more popular in many famous bars and restaurants.
Irish whiskey sold in the US has increased by 61% over the past five years, according to the Irish Food Board. In 2018 alone, sales grew by 9.4% over the previous year, generating approximately $1 billion in revenue for manufacturers.
According to economist David Ozgo, the growth is driven largely by American millennials, thanks to their willingness to spend more on higher-quality alcohol. Ozgo also noted that Irish whiskey cocktails have become more popular menu items over the years in many well-known bars and restaurants. Such as the bar The Dead Rabbit, awarded in 2016 the "Best Bar in the World" award from Drinks International - more than half of the cocktails in this institution are based on Irish whiskey.
At the same time, it has been and remains the market leader for several years Jameson brand, owned by the French giant Pernod Ricard. Other companies are also trying to keep up, so the range of Irish whiskey represented in the US continues to grow.
However, despite growth in the US and elsewhere, Irish whiskey still accounts for less than 3% of total spirits sales. But alcohol companies are trying to change that by spending more and more money on advertising their brands. For example, when Diageo, the world's largest spirits supplier, re-entered the fast-growing US market in 2017 with Roe & Co. whiskey, it increased its marketing spend by 20% at once compared to the previous year. And this is bearing fruit - for 9 years in a row, spirits have been gradually taking market share away from beer.
