Angostura
is facing some “difficult decisions” in rationalizing its rum range, and is set
to announce some “additions or deletions” next year according to the group’s
new CEO. Speaking to The Spirits
Business last month, Genevieve Jodhan, who was made the permanent CEO of
the Trinidad and Tobago-based rum and bitters producer in February 2017, we are
“looking at the range now to see what we want to consistently grow, and whether
there are any of the rums that we would like to drop”. “It’s all about looking at the change in
consumption patterns, and looking at the younger consumers,” said Jodhan.
“Angostura 1919, for example, started off
with an age statement and five years ago we removed it because we ran out of
all eight-year-old stock – we changed the blend. “I think this eventually happens with all
companies, we are now looking at our 10-year ageing plan and we are going to
cement what that range should be, so that by January we should be announcing
either some additions or deletions. But it’s not anything that we are scared
off.”
Jodhan also
revealed to The Spirits Business that Angostura has “no capacity
constraints” for production of rum, particularly since the company made a "strategic decision" to vastly reduce it third party supply contracts. Angostura’s
rum portfolio is divided into ‘international rums’ – its premium heritage-driven
expressions – and ‘Trinidadian jewels’ – rums not branded as ‘Angostura’ that
dominate the domestic market.
As part of a three-year strategy that started with the redesign of the international rum portfolio, Jodhan says Angostura may consider expanding
international distribution of its ‘Trinidadian jewels’.
To read Genevieve Jodhan’s
interview in full, see the July 2017 issues of The Spirits Business magazine,
out now.
Read More at https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2017/07/angostura-to-announce-rum-additions-or-deletions/
This is an issue within the entire rum
industry. The same expressions year
after year are no longer holding up in this rapidly changing spirits market. Many of the older traditional expressions
have disappeared in the past few years.
I expect to see more of this with other companies in the very near
future.
