Young people are driving gin to new heights, according to researchers.
Although more than half (56%) of white spirit and RTD drinkers are said to consider gin an ‘older person’s drink’, a new report by Mintel concludes it’s younger people who are most likely to drink gin.
More than two in five (42%) UK drinkers aged between 18 and 34 have consumed the spirit in the past 12 months, according to the poll, compared to just over a quarter (27%) of over-45s.
Researchers say young people will help boost gin sales to £1.04 billion for the first time; the figure is a 25% uplift on 2012 when sales stood at £829 million. And analysts forecast gin’s popularity will continue to rise, with sales expected to reach £1.31 billion by 2020.
Chris Wisson, senior drinks analyst at Mintel, said: “The strong performance of gin continues to stand out within the spirits market and is widely seen as the most sophisticated type of white spirit by category users.
“One of gin’s sobriquets is ‘Mother’s Ruin’ and the drink still has certain associations with older drinkers, contributing to it being likely to be seen as an older person’s drink and the least likely as a young person’s drink.
“However, our research indicates that gin is in fact now most likely to be drunk by younger consumers, suggesting that it has a chance to forge a dynamic image and move into even more innovative areas.”
