Irish Cream Liqueur Recovers From ‘Lost Decade’
The Irish Spirits Association (ISA) has launched a Love Irish Cream Liqueur campaign. In the lead-up to Christmas, which is a very important time for Irish cream liqueur sales, the campaign aims to restart a conversation about the uniqueness of the product category, its importance to Ireland, and the need to protect it against fake products.
According to the ISA, Irish cream liqueur is growing in popularity at home and abroad, after recovering from a ‘lost decade’ during which growth stagnated. Over 90 million bottles of Irish cream liqueur were sold globally in 2016. Preliminary figures from Nielsen show that the value of Irish cream liqueur sales in the important Irish off-trade sector have increased by 3.4 per cent during 2017.
The contribution of the Irish cream liqueur industry to the Irish economy is significant. In 2016, Irish cream liqueur producers purchased 316 million litres of fresh cream from Irish farmers, sourced from 46,000 dairy cows.
The Love Irish Cream Liqueur campaign aims to highlight the fact that Irish cream liqueur is protected by an EU-recognised Geographic Indication (GI) and to seek enhanced protection of this GI in international markets. A GI means that Irish cream liqueur must be produced on the island of Ireland in accordance with an EU-approved technical file. The GI protects the integrity and quality of this spirits category and the investment being made in production and employment on the island of Ireland.
John Harte, chairman of the Irish Spirits Association, comments: “Since its origin in 1974, Irish Cream Liqueur has been one of Ireland’s most successful spirits categories, loved by millions of people around the world. After a lost decade, during which growth in the category stalled, I am delighted to see that Irish Cream Liqueur sales are once again growing in Ireland and globally.”
He adds: “In the lead-up to Christmas, we are delighted to launch this campaign, which seeks to raise awareness of Irish cream liqueur and protect the category. We hope this campaign will be accompanied by increased efforts by industry and stakeholders to monitor the markets and crackdown on fake, non-GI produce.”
The Irish Spirits Association recently facilitated a meeting between Irish cream liqueur producers and the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine to progress efforts to tackle fake, non-GI produce.
CAPTION:
Picture shows William Lavelle, Head of ISA (right), with Carleen Madigan, ISA Legal Advisor, and John Harte, Donohoes Drinks, ISA Chair.
