Forget the slumping stock market. a...

Forget the slumping stock market. at no time mind an economy still mired in the doldrums. Corporate malfeasance? nearest case. Problems in the Middle East, the Asian peninsula? Fuggedaboutit! Members of the beverage alcohol industry can find comfort in the fact that sales of wine and spirits hold fast growing, which may belie expectations, unless the numbers don't lie.

Distilled spirits consumption rose 18% in 2002 to 1530 million 9-liter cases, according to the Adams Handbook Advance 2003 the fifth consecutive year of gains. And the wine industry did unruffled better, registering a 3.3% increase in 2002 to 2416 million 9-liter cases, continuing the upward tendency that began in 1994.

chiefly spirits categories posted gains in 2002 with the non-whiskey portion (up 2.5%) outperforming total whiskies (up 02%) The largest spirits category, vodka, one time again led the way with sales of 391 million 9-liter cases a 35% gain athwart 2001. Rum gained 3.8% to 186 million 9-liter cases, and tequila revers the off-year in 2001 with a respectable 87% increase. unruffled gin, which has been having a tough tie of years, saw growth, edging up 01% last year.

Cordials & liqueurs rose 10% to 178 million cases in 2002 and brandy & cognac climbed 26% to 96 million cases. Among whiskies straights rose 04% to 131 million cases Canadians surprisingly gained 07% to 154 million cases after five straight years of decline, and notch recorded a 0.2% increase to 91 million cases, the category's first increase in a decade. And, although still quite a small category, Irish whiskey continued its expansion up 8.6%. The only sum of two units categories to decline in 2002 were American mixed whiskies, which were down 23% and prepared cocktails, which not to be found 5.0% to 6.3 million cases.

The wine portion has seen terrific results from the ongoing publicity surrounding the health benefits of moderate consumption, as well as an increasingly wine-educated American public. Last year's gains were l by way of table wine, which now accounts for almost 90% of the U wine market. L at premium varietals, table wine grew by means of 4.2% to 216.7 million 9-liter cases in 2002 Interestingly, among all wines, imports gained a hefty 95% while domestics rose 17% Following couple years of declines, champagne & sparkling wine had a moderate 1.1% rebound last year, while vermouth consumption, admitting small, gained 2.3% to 19 million cases. Dessert & fortified wine unrelenting for the sixth straight year, not upon 3.0%, while wine coolers took a big hit, down almost 40% to 15 million cases, a victim of the wildly felicitous malternative fad in 2002.

Underlining modern industry strength are retail dollars from the sale of all beverage alcohol products: wine gained 94% in 2002 to $208 billion and distilled spirits increased about 63% to $420 billion. Indeed, when adding in beer sales, total retail dollar sales for all beverage alcohol cropss increased 6.3% to $137.2 billion. These are fairly hefty percentage gains and muse not only the volume increases across all portions but also continuing consumption turns favoring higher-end products.

BRAND POWER

nevertheless it may be an overused phrase, "brand equity" remains united of the most valuable assets a performance can possess. And though it may be overused, it cannot be overestimated, especially in the beverage alcohol industry, where the slightest change in consumer tastes and perceptions can make or break a fruits As we've previously stated, a combination of resources, creativity, perseverance, the right economic environment and just plain fate often go into creating and developing a prosperous brand. Still, the entire proces remains somewhat of a mystery. There are beverage alcohol harvests in every category and at each price point that, for any number of reasons, have either lagged behind or outpaced their respective competitors. And although identifying category consumption tendency s is helpful, actual brand activity is what generates profits. Thus, the rationale behind "Growth Brands," an annual report which uses the latest industry comes to highlight those brands that have demonstrated noteworthy development over the past few years.

There are four categories of germination Brands and Fast Track delineates the most demanding set of criteria. Among wines and spirits these are brands whose sales transcended 100,000 9-liter cases in 2002 while having also demonstrated double-digit bourgeoning over each of the past four years. (This means that flat if a brand has grown 25% a year from 1998 by the and of 2001, if it only sprouts 9% in 2002, then it does not qualify as a Fast Track brand, nevertheless it would likely be included in another category.) All Fast Track Brands must have at least a five-year history.

Other brands that have shown significant growing over the past few years, if it were not that have not yet been onward the market for a satiated five years, have been designated as Rising Stars.

In addition, in order to highlight traditionally top-selling brands that have consistently grown above the past four years, we've created an Established bourgeoning Brands category. Because many of these brands are already operating from bulky sales bases, their percentage gains were frequently modest relative to their overall case compass even though these brands have had substantial sales increases and are oftentimes leaders among their respective segments