royal violet with vikingfjord

royal violet
with vikingfjord
Raines Law Room, NYC
By Meaghan Dorman
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Flashy flavors aside, the original neutral spirit remains strong,
with distinct appeals for different customers
by Jeffery Lindenmuth
T
he Distilled Spirits Council of the United States recently
called vodka “the backbone of the spirits industry,” noting
it accounts for 32% of total volume. By any measure, this
marks a startling success story; as a newcomer to the U.S. in
the 1950s, vodka comprised a mere 1% of spirits consumed in the
U.S. Capitalizing at first on its provocative Russian roots and clean
taste, carried into the 1990s by luxury aspirations, then reinvigorated as a craft-cocktail canvas and reinvented with bursts of flavor
for the new millennium, vodka has grown too big to fail. Over the
course of 2012, 65.2 million 9-liter cases of vodka were sold.
To accomplish those kinds of sales, you need a lot of different
people enjoying vodka—a lot of the time. According to Jim Short,
director of marketing and merchandising for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, the appeal of basic unflavored vodka spans
all seasons and a great diversity of drinkers, an audience that Pennsylvania serves by casting a wide net with close to 200 unflavored
vodka SKUs (including multiple sizes). “I just reviewed an analysis
of basket sales where we look at the types of spirits in a basket with
whiskey—what else that individual purchases. And the other spirit
they bought most was vodka. It could be restocking, having a party
V
Vodka
or a spouse drinking it, but we recognize
that whatever someone buys, they are also
a potential vodka buyer,” says Short.
Pennsylvania sells “a ton of vodka,”
with figures even greater than the national
average. Unflavored vodka accounts for
26% of spirits (35% with flavors included)
and a full 12% of total wine and spirits
sales. Even so, the challenge for any vodka
brand, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, is
harnessing space on a shelf that already
covers every price and every imaginable
proposition, from organic to glacial to
celeb-studded.
“Choosing brands is a tough decision,”
says Short. “We’re presented with another
20 to 40 different vodkas all looking for a
pricing gap, but there are no gaps.”
Vodka for Value Hunters
Vodka is everyone’s drink, but not everyone drinks the same vodka. At the entry
level, vodka drinkers themselves appear
aware that their spirit of choice presents
a wealth of options and narrow breadth
of flavor, suggesting that these vodkas are
prone to commoditization. “At the low
end, you see little loyalty. That consumer
is shopping price,” confirms Short.
At American Way Wine & Spirits in
Lakewood, NJ, store manager Andrew
Howard, has succeeded with new
value brands, finding these drinkers willing to make a switch. “A lot of
our value vodka drinkers were won over
when Wave came along. We were able to
offer it on sale for $15.99 and sell a lot
of it,” says Howard.
vodka | selections
In many cases, these newcomer value
brands, including Wave and Pinnacle,
appealed to a younger demographic and
drove trial with proprietary flavors. Lured
in by Pinnacle’s Whipped or Wave’s
Chocolate Covered Pretzel, consumers accepted the brands and soon adopted their
unflavored offering as well. It’s a reverse
engineering of the flavor extensions that
has earned fast growth for these young upstarts. Given that about four of every five
bottles of vodka sold in America today is
unflavored, the ability of a flagship neutral
vodka to attract new fans can be crucial
to the overall health of a vodka brand, no
matter how many flavors are in the line.
Just as entry-level consumers are prone
to shop across brands, they similarly show
little allegiance to retailers. “They are going to shop us on price. If someone has it a
dollar cheaper, we will do our best to price
match. This drinker is very price-sensitive,”
says Howard. To help counteract the diminishing margin, Howard uses the
appeal of vodka value to move customers through the store. “I have vodka
everywhere, in the front of the store and
in the back,” he says, noting
that Svedka is also a hot brand
DIRTY
MARTINI
among value hunters.
Left: Pinnacle is representative of the reality that
no matter how many flavors a vodka brand has,
its neutral bottling is critical to ongoing market
success; Right: Stanton Social Strawberry Fields,
with Grey Goose.
Loyalty Rewards
Few brands in any spirits category have
enjoyed the enduring brand loyalty of
Absolut Vodka, even with its over-$20
price tag and countless extensions over
the years. Also in this elevated pricing tier,
Cîroc, Ketel One and Grey Goose drinkers
have developed firm brand allegiance
by most accounts.
In young and fashionable Miami,
family-owned Global Liquors is doing brisk
business in these luxury brands. Francisco
De Abreu, who owns and operates Global
Liquors with his brother and sister, says
the brands that are selling well are a
direct result of high profile on-premise
placements and celebrity allure. “What
customers are most interested in is what
is sold in the nightclubs,” says De Abreu.
“Go party in South Beach and see what
people have on their table, and that’s what
people will want to have at home. Grey
Goose does a great job in putting bottles in
the nightclub and that’s why it’s the vodka
that sells the most in our store.”
Aiming to reinforce their
appeal with mixologists,
Svedka recently staged
a “Social Mixology: Unchained” event showcasing
progressive techniques
including liquid-nitrogenfrozen herbs, vaporized
cocktails and vodka soda.
Ketel One has maintained
admirable brand loyalty—
something that has become
less common in the value
end of the vodka category.
These consumers are less likely to be
lured out of their way to save a few dollars, so De Abreu has a strategy to boost
sales, one that appeals to their conspicuous
consumption and self esteem: a promotion
of two large 1.75L bottles of Grey Goose
for $99. “We run that sale every three or
four months. It’s an enticing deal because
it does save the consumer money, around
$15, but it does not treat them like bargain
shoppers,” he says.
As a relatively new retailer, open just
two years, Global Liquors offers about 4050 unflavored vodkas, focused on those
with established popularity and broad
branding efforts. The old selling points
about filtering, origin and base ingredients
are merely trivia. “The educated client that
cares how vodka is filtered and distilled,
whether it is it from rye, potatoes, grain
or grapes, is a small minority. We are a
nightclub culture. It’s about the name,
about appearances,” says De Abreu, noting
that Cîroc, with the investment of P. Diddy, and Pitbull’s participation with Voli,
have helped to bring these brands into
the clubbing circle.
In Pennsylvania, the state often hosts
celebrities in-store for signings and tastings, and Jim Short has observed mixed
vodka | selections
results. Dan Aykroyd draws the most when
he comes, and his Crystal Head sells well.
Ditto Bethenny Frankel of Skinnygirl.
Small Successes
With a mantra to persuade people to
“drink better,” Nick Conti, assembles
an interesting selection of vodkas for
his website drinkbetter.com and his
partnership in two Connecticut retail
locations by focusing on intrinsics that
matter to modern consumers. “I think
10 years ago people were very brand loyal,
including vodka drinkers, but that has
disappeared for several reasons. One,
flavors drove people to try other brands,
and also smaller brands are speaking to
people and communicating a story,” says
Conti. “There is a shift away from loyalty
across the board.”
The organic status of Square One
Vodka, and local, artisanal nature of Tito’s
are stories that consumers relate to and remember, according to Conti. “I follow the
consumers, and they are telling me they
like brands with a personal touch,” he says.
Other vodkas that successfully sell organic
include Rain, Purus and Crop.
A surprise success for Conti, Froggy B.
Vodka takes a page from the political playbook by adopting the opponent’s platform:
Froggy B. is a French vodka, produced from
wheat and distilled in Cognac. With brand
intrinsics closely aligned to some higherpriced brands, many drinkers have proved
willing to leave the premium price and
the pretense behind, making it a breakout
brand, notes Conti.
Top Shelf rising
While value brands have benefitted from
the recession years, the recently resurgent
stock market bodes well for the renewal of
luxury. For 2012, super-premium brands
again lead vodka category growth, increasing 10% by volume. At Ludwig’s Fine Wine
& Spirits in Marin County, CA, Magid
Nazari has evolved the vodka selection
along with his family’s business, which caters to affluent residents and connoisseurs
of good living. “Most of these people have
a rather broad but trained palate. They
love great single malt, fine Napa Cab and
the best of everything. It’s not that vodka
is a particular passion, but part of their
lifestyle” says Nazari.
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Vodka
To that end, Nazari offers about
60 vodkas, all super-premium, only 10
of which are flavored. “I pretty much
don’t sell flavors unless they are locally
produced, like Hangar 1. It’s not our
thing,” he says.
So what are the vodkas that seduce
wine lovers? “I sell a lot of Grey Goose, Belvedere, Ketel One and Stoli Elit, which is
a very different style, more distinctive than
a lot of luxury vodkas which try to be very
smooth and round,” says Nazari. From
here, the selection ascends to extremepremium, including Beluga Vodka Gold,
priced at $100, and Vallure at $230. “I
don’t want to compete with bigger stores
on Stoli and Absolut. I would be competing on price. I prefer to compete on selection, to relate vodka to the producers of
spirits that do everything on a small but
premium scale,” says Nazari.
The encouraging news regarding vodka
is that there is no shortage of buyers and
brands that suit them. With new labels
still proliferating and the category continuing its decades of dominance, these savvy
sellers recognize vodka’s broad appeal and
ample opportunities mean it’s still a great
shot at success, especially for those who
know their particular market.
vodka calling cards
Today’s vodka shelves are not unlike a
crowded bar, or a job fair—the more players
there are, the more alike they appear. With
vodka, the sense of sameness is accentuated
by the simple fact that unflavored vodka
aspires to neutrality. But, of course, the
distinctions are quite real—ranging from
vodka | selections
texture, viscosity and finish to packaging
and specifics of origin and production.
Every reseller of straight vodka is
forced to make decisions on
bloody what to carry. One natural
mary
approach is to spread the
options across multiple
price points; another is to offer a balance
of imported and domestic, big brand
and craft/local.
Whatever tack one takes, however, the
key is to know what’s on offer. Every vodka
has a story; sales staff and bartenders
should be able to sum up a vodka’s
reason for being on the shelf whenever
a customer asks. Think of it as a calling
card, an elevator pitch, an opening line.
A few examples:
❖ 360. Quadruple-distilled and five-times
filtered, 360 has won awards for both
quality and environmentally responsible
packaging (the flip-top closure makes the
bottle reusable).
❖ American Harvest. Here is your
All-American spirit. Made in very small
batches from organic winter wheat and
water from deep below the Snake
River Plain.
❖ Double Cross. This is Slovakian
vodka, seven times distilled and seven
times filtered—in a package that features
both the ancient symbol of the Slovak
coat of arms and inscriptions of poetry
from the 1800s.
❖ Epic. Distilled in Cognac from wheat
harvested in Champagne, this French
vodka is named for the great moments
Basil Gimlet, with Skyy Vodka
often found in everyday living, yet sometimes taken for granted.
❖ Finlandia. Based on barley, Finlandia
is made via a continuous distillation
process that includes more than 200 steps.
So pure it needs no filtering, it is blended
with untouched glacial spring water.
❖ Georgi. This is a value brand with
Russian inspiration and an extra dash of
sex appeal in their outdoor advertising.
❖ Heroes. First bottled on Veterans Day
(11.11.11), veteran-owned Heroes is made
from 100% American corn and a portion
of sales go to AMVETS, supporting activeduty military and veterans.
❖ High Rise. A brand new
“retro” vodka, High Rise evokes the
style and sophistication of the 1960s
cocktail era; made with winter wheat and
limestone water from New York’s
Finger Lakes region.
❖ I Spirit. It’s the Italian vodka! Started
as a collaboration that included Harry’s
Bar, I Spirit is distilled five times and uses
crystal clear water from the Dolomites.
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Vodka
❖ Iceberg. Harvested from actual
chunks of icebergs off the coast of Canada, the water in Iceberg is 7,000 times
purer than tap water. Perfectly chilled
when the maple leaf changes color.
❖ Krü 82. Distilled from French wheat,
Krü 82 has a unique stainless steel bottle
with built-in utility clip and nylon strap.
Cool, durable, goes anywhere.
vodka walks
the savory side
T
he flavored vodka world isn’t all
about candy and ice cream. There
is a growing group of savory
entrants, such as Crop Cucumber,
ZU Vodka (an ancient Polish brand
flavored with Bison Grass), newlyreleased The Bay Seasoned Vodka
(flavored with traditional Chesapeake
Bay herbs and spices) and perhaps the
most unique: Hophead.
Created by Anchor Distilling in San
Francisco, Hophead is distilled entirely
from hops. It tastes like nothing else
on the market.
Anchor president David King
became enamored with the smell of
hops coming out of the company’s
brewery and distillery and the idea
was born. Using small copper pot
stills and two types of dried hops from
Washington State’s Yakima Valley, the
resulting liquid is intensely flavorful,
yet almost doesn’t fit in the category
of flavored vodkas (King prefers to
refer to it as a premium craft spirit).
Hophead makes a mean
Bloody Mary, and mixes well
in a wider range of cocktails
than one might expect (at
90 proof, it is delicious
in martinis and beer
cocktails particularly).
It’s also perfect to sip on
its own. (SRP $29.95)
Vodka’s inherent
neutrality makes image
more important than
ever. American Harvest
is among a handful
of brands enticing
consumers with an
organic identity.
❖ Legend of Kremlin.
Based on the first known
recipe for Russian vodka,
and long produced only
for Moscow royalty and the church,
Legend of Kremlin is the only Russian
vodka made in traditional copper vats.
❖ New Amsterdam. Before New
York was New York, it was New
Amsterdam; this vodka captures the city’s
essence. Value pricing and “five times
distilled” messaging helped the brand
become fastest spirits brand ever to sell
1 million cases.
❖ Oddka. Don’t overthink this one: it’s
vodka with a wicked good sense of humor.
Attributed to a chap named Wit Oddoski, who claims he thought up “vodka
flavoured vodka.”
❖ Punzoné. Crafted in a five-column
distillation system from organic Italian
wheat grown in Northwest Italy, then
blended with pristine waters from the
Italian Alps.
❖ Purity. Living up to its name, Purity
is distilled 34 times, in a pot still made
of copper and gold. This Swedish brand
claims to be the most award-winning ultrapremium vodka in the world.
❖ Russian Standard. The name rings
true: this is the #1 vodka in Russia, based
on a formula first commissioned by Tsar
Alexander III using hardy winter wheat
from the Russian steppes and glacial
waters of the frozen north.
❖ Skyy. Since its humble start in San
Francisco in 1992, Skyy has soared. Its
smooth, clean taste derives from fourcolumn distillation, triple filtration and a
proprietary reverse osmosis process.
❖ Slovenia. Created using buckwheat
and Alpine water by chef Peter X. Kelly to
be “the culinary vodka,” Slovenia gains extra street cred from input by Russian-born
dancer Mikhail Barishnikov and “Good
Will Ambassador and Commissioner of
Fun” Bill Murray.
❖ Sobieski. The #1 premium vodka in
Poland (the real birthplace of vodka, not
Russia) at a great price. Made from golden
Dankowski Rye and pure water from
Oligocene springs; continuously distilled
for smoothness.
❖ Stolichnaya. Iconic Stoli is the
flag-waver of Russian vodkas in the U.S.
Popular for generations, it’s set to make
a fresh market push as the brand owner,
Russia’s SPI Group, will establish its own
importing arm in the U.S. in 2014.
❖ Three Olives. This is “the London
vodka.” Paying homage to the classic
martini, the brand was recently repackaged and supported by ads featuring actor
Clive Owen.
❖ Ultimat. From Poland, considered by
many the birthplace of vodka, Ultimat is
crafted from three ingredients—wheat for
smoothness, rye for complexity, potato
for richness.
❖ Van Gogh. Though the brand is
best known for wild flavors, Van Gogh’s
triple-distilled “Classic” is balanced and
smooth. The distillery in Holland dates
back to 1879.
❖ Vikingfjord. The glacial vodka of
Norway, Vikingfjord is a potato-based
spirit made in a five-column still, then
charcoal-filtered and blended using crystal
clear water that was frozen for 5,000 years.
❖ Vixen. Created by three friends
after a girls’ getaway, Vixen bills itself
as “lust in liquid form” and sports two
sexy legs in their logo. Made in a glass
still in Colorado. n