Diageo Launches “Whiskey 5” Retail Program In Bid To Demystify Category

Diageo North America is rolling out a new retail initiative intended to educate and guide newer consumers through its expansive whisk(e)y portfolio. The “Whiskey 5” program, debuting this fall, breaks the diverse category into five taste profiles which shoppers can select from to receive recommendations on Diageo whisk(e)y products and cocktail recipes: smooth, spicy, bold, sweet and smoky.

The Whiskey 5 program is currently in about 3,500 retail accounts across all channels in the U.S., with a goal of 5,000 accounts. Diageo tells SND its internal research shows that new users—including Millennials and women consumers—account for roughly a quarter of the whisk(e)y category’s recent growth.

“We saw that new consumers were defaulting to price in their selection. But some whisk(e)y products are very expensive, and it requires confidence in making that purchase decision,” says Steve Wallet, Diageo’s vice president of category development and shopper marketing.

The push includes a mobile-enabled website that encourages sharing on social media, as well as in-store merchandising elements and displays.

The total whisk(e)y category continues to show strength in the U.S. market, with IRI data for the 52 weeks through October 30 showing growth of 3.1% to nearly 10 million nine-liter cases. The Bourbon category has grown by more than 3 million cases over the past five years, while the high-end single malt Scotch segment has added nearly half a million cases, according to Impact Databank.

While Diageo’s Crown Royal Canadian Whisky, Bulleit Kentucky Whiskey and Johnnie Walker Scotch have always been strong at retail, the company says brands like Blade and Bow, Buchanan’s, George Dickel and I.W. Harper, among others, all stand to benefit from Whiskey 5.

Greater experimentation across the portfolio is also targeted at helping Diageo’s Scotch range, as Scotch is a category that can be especially intimidating to new consumers, Wallet adds.

News Briefs:

•Diageo is closing its rum maturation and warehousing operation in St. Croix by the end of next year. The spirits giant will be relocating that part of its U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) operation to Relay, Maryland, where it previously maintained a bottling plant that was shuttered in 2015. Because Captain Morgan will continue to be produced in the USVI, Diageo says the move won’t impact either local employment or the territory’s rum cover-over funds—the excise tax proceeds that the USVI receives when rum produced there is sold in the U.S. market. Diageo sells more than 6 million cases of Captain Morgan in the U.S. annually, making it the market’s third-largest spirit brand, behind portfolio mate Smirnoff and rival rum Bacardi.

•Breakthru Beverage senior executive Bruce Levine is retiring after nearly 50 years in the drinks business. Levine started his career in 1969 at the A. Asch division of Seagram and also held posts at Renfield Importers and Frederick Wildman & Sons before a near 30-year tenure as a key executive with the Charmer Sunbelt Group. Earlier this year, when Charmer Sunbelt merged with Wirtz Beverage Group to form Breakthru, Levine was appointed to his current role as vice president of business development, spirits. He’s retiring in February 2017.

Craft Brewing and Distilling News:

•Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Founders Brewing Company is expanding distribution to the Pacific Northwest with entry into Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The Great Artisan Beverage (GAB) network of wholesalers will handle the brewer’s portfolio of craft beer—including year-round, seasonal and specialty releases in bottles, cans and on draft—in the region. Founders expects to first enter Washington in January, with Idaho and Oregon following in February. Last year, Founders sold a 30% stake to Spain’s Mahou San Miguel for an undisclosed sum.

•Boston-based Harpoon Brewery is introducing its popular Hoppy Adventure Double IPA in four-packs of 16-ounce cans. Hoppy Adventure (7.8% abv) was previously available only on draft. Harpoon recently entered the Wisconsin and Minnesota markets, bringing its distribution footprint to 27 states. The company ranks as the 19th-largest U.S. craft brewer, according to the Brewers Association.

•Santa Barbara, California’s Telegraph Brewing Co. is releasing its latest barrel-aged sour ale, Obscura Peche. Made with more than 25 pounds of organic peaches in each barrel, the sour ale was aged in used wine barrels for 18 months. Obscura Peche is available in 375-ml. bottles and on draft in select markets such as Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Seattle, Arizona and New York state. Located in downtown Santa Barbara, Telegraph Brewing specializes in American and Belgian-inspired beers made with local ingredients.

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