SHIFTING THE MARKET

The bigger question is what this shift has done to the market. Because after years of attempts to redefine and repair the category’s image while other spirits have charged forward with messages of craft and quality, the work is now paying off.

In its full-year results in 2022 announced last month, Diageo announced that its vodkas have clocked double digit growth, increasing volumes by 11%, and growing in all regions.

Craft producers – ralliers against tasteless products since, what, 2007? – are also increasingly embracing vodka as a viable vessel for their, craftsmanship.

It is, in many ways, an obvious step. As the spirits world at large embraced the mega trends of provenance, heritage and quality, and individual brands embraced what makes them unique, vodka really had no choice to adapt, or be left behind. But the reversal of vodka’s fortunes has as much to do with the changing attitudes of consumers too.

More than any other category, vodka is a mirror to what attributes consumers value. Due to its neutrality, it is a ripe forum upon which to reflect the things that now matter to the people that are buying them.

The rise and boom of categories such as gin have done so much to educate consumers on the production of, the ingredients used, and the differences between many, many similar white liquids sat on shelf alongside each other. Vodka is now tapping into that more discerning mindset, and talking about its production to consumers, in a way it really hasn’t before.

As new producing regions come on board, buoyed by the category’s rising tide, expect each to take their own approach to showcasing what is unique about them, from flagging the effect of their climates and typography upon their raw ingredients, to the eco credentials of their sourcing. This will be especially so as the market becomes more crowded and USPs become the prize. Are we at the cusp of a vodka boom? Time will tell. But if we are, terroir will be key.