Beefeater invests in new still at Kennington distillery

Pernod Ricard has invested in a new still for Beefeater Gin at its distillery in Kennington, London.

Installation of the extra still is now underway and the investment comes off the back of the success of its flavoured varieties.

Last week Beefeater introduced its third flavour variety, Blackberry, which has been released exclusively to the UK while Beefeater Pink Strawberry now accounts for around 300,000 cases worldwide.

Louise Ryan, MD of Pernod Ricard’s The Gin Hub, told Drinks International: “Beefeater Pink Strawberry has driven a significant amount of growth for the brand but emerging markets such as Brazil and South Africa have also been a big contributor.”

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Beefeater was ranked number one in the list of Bestselling Brands in the 2019 Annual Brands Report by Drinks International and featured in The Millionaires’ Club with 2.8m 9-litre cases in 2018.

Ryan added: “We recently carried out some research in the UK and the US on Beefeater Pink to understand what impact it has had on the perceptions of Beefeater London Dry Gin, and actually those who have tried Pink Strawberry are more positively disposed towards Beefeater and tend to drink more of the London Dry variation. 

“So the research shows that the new flavoured gins are having a positive impact on the brand and also bringing in new consumers to the brand and the gin category."

Beefeater recently launched Monday’s Gin, a distillery exclusive whereby the botanicals are steeped over the weekend for 72 hours before distillation and its London Dry Gin now has almost 0.5m cases in the US, where it recently launched Beefeater Pink. Globally the brand is showing either double or triple growth in more than 50 markets.