Drinks giants turn to €42bn high-end spirits market after global Covid lockdowns            

Sales of 750ml bottles of premium drinks priced at €170 and up are expected to increase 9.3% annually until 2025,

Major drinks companies are making deals and reaching joint ventures to boost their offerings of spirits priced at $200 (€170) a bottle and up, the fastest-growing segment in the $1tn global market for alcoholic drinks.

Louis Vuitton's wines and spirits division Moet Hennessy and rival Campari last month announced an alliance to sell premium beverages online as they jostle for a piece of the $50bn (€42bn) global high-end spirits market.

Pernod Ricard, which makes Martell cognac, over the past two years has invested in a number of 'super‐premium' and 'ultra‐premium brands, including a "significant investment" in Japan's Kyoto Distillery. 

Sales of 750ml bottles of premium drinks priced at $200 and up are expected to increase 9.3% annually until 2025, outpacing lower-priced drinks,  according to  the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.  In contrast, sales of $10-per-bottle products, so-called value brands, are forecast to  grow just  0.8% annually  over the same period.  

Bowmore whiskey maker Beam Suntory, which is privately owned, has committed to achieving more than half of its revenue from premium drinks by 2030.

Andy  Sung, a  Houston-based  whisky collector who  reviews rare and limited-edition whiskies on Instagram  for his 10,000 followers,  said he sees more people showing interest in investing and collecting high-end whiskey than he did a few years ago. 

For example, when the GlenAllachie Distillers released just 2,000 bottles of its 30-year old GlenAllachie whisky in May, the scotch that retails for £475 (€556) a bottle sold out instantly. In June, Campari also launched a dedicated division focused on luxury spirits in the US. 

Bacardi said 2021 would be the "year  of innovation" with  plans  to launch  many "new expressions",  and limited-editions for some of its bestselling brands including Grey Goose vodka and Bombay Sapphire gin.

In Europe, the pandemic has accelerated consumers' interest in purchasing high-end spirits online, said Alberto Gennarini, a partner with Vitale & Co consultancy, which advised Campari on past deals.

Campari and Moet Hennessy, which entered a joint venture in July, may seek to expand ecommerce platforms Tannico and Ventealapropriete.com beyond France and Italy, according to industry sources.

Diageo's chief executive Ivan Menezes said last week that the company is picky when it comes to deals but it also hasn't been easy to find acquisition targets as there are limited purveyors of ultra-premium spirits. 

• Reuters