THE BLOOM IS OFF THE FLAVORED VODKA ROSE

CAN IT BE? Have flavored vodkas fallen out of grace amongst the cocktail set? It may be so. Restaurant Sciences LLC, an independent firm that closely tracks food and beverage product sales throughout the foodservice industry in North America, reported that the sales of on-premise flavored vodkas fell 11.7 percent from Q3 2O12 to Q3 2O13. Analyzing more than 17O million drink orders, Restaurant Sciences learned that flavored vodkas lost nearly one percent of its on-premise spirits market share from Q3 2O12 to Q3 2O13. “Flavored vodkas’ on-premise spirits market share peaked at 8.7 percent in Q3 2O12,” said Chuck Ellis, President and CEO of Restaurant Sciences. “Since its peak, flavored vodkas have lost market share over the past 12 months to other flavored spirits, such as whiskey. A few select brands, such as Grey Goose Cherry Noir, up 11.6 percent, and Smirnoff Cranberry, up 19 percent, are still showing excellent growth. Despite the market softness in 2O13, Restaurant Sciences has tracked the introduction of 46 new flavored vodkas since 2O12.” The company tracks more than 6OO flavored vodka brands, with the top 5O flavored vodkas accounting for 73 percent of sales. Among the larger brands, Absolut Citron, the flavored vodka category leader, saw a 1.8 percent year-over-year sales decline. While Grey Goose Cherry Noir flavored vodka is enjoying increased on-premise sales, all other Grey Goose flavored vodkas on-premise sales are off between eight to 2O percent. Other category leaders, such as Stolichnaya and Three Olives, are down more than 2O percent.