Brandy sales rocket after decade in decline

FOR the past decade, local consumers had been increasingly raising their glasses to whisky until recently when the South African spirits market was turned on its head.

In 2006, whisky overtook brandy as South Africa’s favourite spirit, but the decline in volume and market share for this homegrown spirit, made from grapes, has finally turned a corner, and brandy’s popularity is on the rise again.

The first South African brandy was produced in 1672 and the last 300 or so have been spent perfecting the art of brandy distillation and maturation. Nielson Statistics revealed an increase of 4.7 per cent for brandy and Cognac between 2016 and 2017 in the off-consumption market.

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Elias Holtzkampf, a researcher at SA Wine Industry Information and Systems said over the last decade, whisky was the star performer and taking volumes from the brandy market.

“Brandy made ground on whisky between 2014 and 2015 with whisky losing volumes and brandy volumes starting to stabilise,” said Holtzkampf.

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Brandy’s arrested decline in consumption is welcome news for South Africa’s agricultural sector. It takes five litres of wine to produce one litre of brandy. A thriving brandy market is important for many wine farmers who count on it to provide sustainability and cash flow.

Distell Spirits is the country’s largest brandy producer. Its ambassador Nick Holdcroft said brandy’s revival is not being driven on price point alone, but more on South Africa’s growing appreciation for the quality of locally produced, world-class products.

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