Brandy has been in worldwide decline for some
time. In Spain, the
fact that it is no longer included in the “shopping basket” of the consumer
price index demonstrates its falling importance in consumer preference. Fifty
years ago Brandy de Jerez had 50% of the Spanish market. Declining per capita
consumption of alcohol along with rising production costs and fiscal pressure
explain the unease of recent years in the Jerez Brandy industry which has led
to the conversion of many Solera brandies into cheaper Bebidas Espirtuosas and
a drop to virtually nothing in promotional investment by the Consejo Regulador.
Things could
be about to change however; worldwide, brandy is growing again. The recent
purchases of the old Domecq and Garvey by Andrew Tan’s Emperador represent huge investment and faith in the sector inspiring some to predict that brandy
could be the next fashionable drink after the gin and tonic boom both at home
and abroad. According to Bosco Torremocha, general director of the Spanish
federation of spirit drinks (FEBE), although all fashionable drinks run the
risk of falling out of fashion again, brandy in general, and Brandy de Jerez in
particular, with its quality and tradition, is growing again and this provides an
opportunity.
After an
era dominated by novelty, innovation and technology there is a move back to the
roots, to the real thing, which will attract consumer interest. FEBE is
convinced that it will not be long before the rewards for this will be reaped.
Evaristo Babé, president of the Consejo Regulador Brandy de Jerez, feels the
same saying that the world of spirits moves in cycles which repeat themselves
and this happens in Spain just as much as the rest of the world. For a while a
particular drink becomes the height of fashion and ends up being the drink of a
generation - until the next one comes along - not out of some whim, but because
of changes in lifestyle and consumer habits.
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