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CREAM LIQUEURS AS a category has historically suffered from the perception that it is staid, only seasonal, and lacking in innovation, but, by its very nature, cream always rises to the top, and this year has seen a major shift in its fortunes.

Diageo’s Baileys, the standout market leader by a very large margin, grew 6% last year, with growth being attributed to a new marketing campaign and particular success in North America.

More than 10 countries hit double-digit growth including GB, the US, Ireland and Italy and Grainne Wafer, global brand director for Baileys, reports that the brand had 14m new triallists in 2017 across demographics. She says: “Our H2 (Jan-Jun, outside of the traditional peak) was the biggest H2 ever on Baileys, breaking the myth that Baileys is a seasonal brand for the holidays.

“The festive season in December is the biggest treat occasion of the year, but there are so many others – Halloween, Valentine’s, Easter, Mother’s Day. We have already had success connecting to these occasions. Communications featuring Baileys S’mores, French Toast and Over Ice-cream already connect well with these moments.

“In addition, Baileys Strawberries & Cream was a huge success for us and opened up seasons that are not traditional for the brand. So we see the whole year as filled with opportunities for Baileys.”

Given the current boom in interest in better-for-you and the free-from movement, it might seem counter-intuitive that the cream liqueurs category is growing, but Wafer says the versatility of Baileys “is embedded within food and drink culture. Hot chocolate, for example, is growing in popularity among this audience and Baileys hot chocolate is totally delicious”.

She adds that there is also evidence of the drinker profile “becoming broader – more men, more LDA-35 – in line with the treats strategy. Treating is a culturally exciting and dynamic space”.

And Diageo has been no slouch when it comes to addressing the needs of the free-from movement, introducing the gluten-free and dairy-free Baileys Almande. “It is performing in line with our expectations,” says Wafer. “It is recruiting incremental drinkers from those who want to go dairy free. We expect demand for dairy-free/vegan products to continue to grow.”

Baileys may command the lion’s share of the market, but that’s not to say other brands aren’t continuing to make headway in the sector, and leading the charge is Africa’s Amarula Cream, made with the marula fruit.

The brand is now in more than 100 countries and a study by IWSR this year ranked it second in the cream liqueurs category globally. Natasha Maharaj, global head, liqueurs, global marketing, says: “The positive growth at 5% is across all regions including South Africa, Africa, global travel retail, Europe and the Americas, maintaining global volume and value market share at 7.8% in a category growing at 4.9%.”

A new brand variant, Amarula Vanilla Spice, has just been launched, made from “ethically sourced, uniquely African ingredients - distilled Marula spirit, vanilla extract from Madagascar, and a Nigerian Ginger root, all expertly blended with the finest quality cream for an indulgent taste sensation”.

Maharaj says: “Younger consumers across all markets are looking for excitement, novelty and choice. Amarula is a quality cream liqueur, made from the distinctive marula fruit that grows wild and is only found in sub-equatorial Africa, making it a truly unique offering. With exciting new marula-based flavour variants with ingredients with African provenance such as the Amarula Madagascan Vanilla Spice now available in duty free globally, these consumers are given the chance to discover and explore more about the rich African continent.”

The brand also ticks the boxes that have become seemingly indispensable to newer consumers – provenance, sustainability and authenticity – as well as attracting advocates of wildlife preservation with its widely documented support of the dwindling African elephant population. Says Maharaj: “We are faced with the harsh reality that there are only 400,000 elephants remaining in Africa and that every 15 minutes an elephant disappears, which means by 2030 Africa’s elephants could be completely extinct. Amarula is intimately connected to the elephants through our shared African roots and the unique marula fruit. As a brand, we will continue to drive awareness and education of African elephant conservation throughout the year.

“In addition to the #DontLetThemDisappear global melting ice elephant activations in key cities such as Rio, Toronto, Nairobi and Johannesburg, we are running multiple awareness and donation programmes in all of our regions. For example, in Canada in August we ran a multi-channel and digital campaign for every re-tweet donating a Canadian Dollar to the cause, and in the US for every bottle sold over October to December, a US dollar will be donated. The team are working tirelessly to protect these magnificent animals to ensure their future existence.”

FLAVOURED VARIANTS

While the image of flavoured variants of existing brands may have suffered under the somewhat heavy-handed approach of some vodka producers, there appears to be a trend back into the sector – even gin is starting to embrace the approach.

Estonia’s Vana Tallinn Cream – created with cream and the Vana Tallinn liqueur – described by brand owner As Liviko export manager Anna-Kai Tõrsas “the regional bestseller”, is “constantly on the hunt for innovation”. She says: “Four years back we launched innovative Ice Cream flavour in the range, and it became an instant hit among the traditional flavours and consumers.

“At the end of 2017 we added Marzipan flavour with differentiated packaging – targeted mainly at young women. The non-traditional packaging and collaboration with various online cooking theme influencers proved the category still to be very relevant to younger consumers. So it is very much about pursuit of innovation and being relevant.”

Tõrsas adds: “The modern consumer is more and more educated today, appreciating natural flavours and ready to discover new tastes or praise the slightly forgotten ones. One can say that millennials do not want to drink the same drinks as their parents, but at the same time – they do, just by mixing them with different or more interesting ingredients. There’s a sort of rediscovering of old classics through a new angle. Cream liqueurs provide a great alternative to strong spirits – typically around 16% vol abv makes a great ‘one small drink on the rocks’ for home consumption occasions or out with friends.”

Philippe Biais, export director, of Waldemar Behn, which produces Dooley’s, agrees: “When you talk to young people, they tend to say they do not want to drink the same stuff as their parents. In reality, on special occasion, they tend to reproduce the same pattern of consumption of their parents.”

Also on the flavour trail is Quintessential Brands Group, which counts Feeney’s and O’Mara’s Country Cream among its portfolio.

Shane Hoyne, chief marketing officer, says: “Through innovation, cream liqueurs are reinventing themselves and becoming relevant to a whole new audience of consumers who are keen to discover and try new products. These consumers expect new and exciting flavours, and also value quality and craftsmanship highly, so at First Ireland Spirits, our expert team of liquid developers led by our master blender, John Drennan, have been working on developing new flavours that will bring new shoppers to the Irish creams category, but always with a focus on outstanding quality.

“Providing Irish creams of the utmost quality with a real sense of provenance is of paramount importance for First Ireland Spirits as we believe that is essential for the long term sustainable success of the category.

“Rolling out globally now, we expanded the O’Mara’s Country Cream range in September 2018 to include three new flavours – chocolate mint, chocolate orange and salted caramel. At 14.5% abv, each flavour combines locally-sourced dairy cream and melted chocolate. The range has been designed to tap into after-dinner occasions, which we’ve seen develop in markets such as the UK, US and Australia in particular.

“Our aim is to broaden the appeal to the millennial demographic, while highlighting our Irish provenance. We refreshed the brand identity to create a more modern, contemporary look. The new branding now features a Celtic knot design which dials up our Irish heritage and brings a fresh new look to the brand.”

Also targeting younger consumers is Rumchata, the world’s largest rum-based cream. Tom Maas, Rumchata founder and master blender, says younger audiences are looking for “more artisanal, higher-quality and more modern cream liqueurs like RumChata”.

He adds: “For this reason, Rumchata is really not a “cream liqueur” in any traditional sense. Rather, as the world’s biggest selling rum cream, it was and continues to be a disruptor not only within the cream liqueur category, but more broadly, all liqueurs.

“Since the brand’s inception in 2009, we have grown from a few thousand 9-litre cases to more than 600,000 cases. Growth in the first three to four years came from expanded distribution, new sizes and products in the US. Since then, however, a good portion of the growth has come from international expansion; from nearly nothing in 2014, we’re now in 27 countries, territories and business segments. We define it that way to include our growing duty free business segment. Global sales to the US military are also posting solid growth, and we’re pleased with our expansion in domestic markets in Canada, Mexico and in the select countries in Europe we have chosen.

“Most recently, Frappachata by Rumchata has become a significant contributor to our business. It was launched just over a year ago as the world’s first shelf-stable adult premixed coffee beverage – delectable Rumchata mixed with high-quality coffee in a new attractive RTD bottle.

“As we mentioned, the growth is driven by the younger gen Xers, as well as millennials. These two groups tend to go out more, enjoy socialising over cocktails, and are more apt to look for new concepts like Rumchata for their drinks of choice.”

Lacking in innovation? Hardly. The cream liqueurs category seems really to have stepped up its game and tapped into a rich vein of potential new consumers.