Sales of middle-priced whiskies saw the largest decline in Taiwan this year because local consumers are going out to eat less often amid rising inflation and an economic slowdown, a Japanese whisky company official said yesterday.
Suntory Taiwan Ltd (台灣三得利) said sales of its high-priced Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky (NT$1,000 and above) and low-priced Suntory Whisky (below NT$500) grew between 5 percent and 10 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year.
However, its revenue was eroded by the plummeting sales of its middle-priced Scotch Whisky, such as its Prime Blue pure malt Scotch whisky (priced between NT$600 and NT$800), which meant the company’s growth remained flat this year.
“Whiskies priced between NT$500 and NT$1,000 are the most popular among local consumers, volume wise, but they have also seen the largest sales drop,” Shunichi Ninomiya, chairman and president of Suntory Taiwan, told the Taipei Times in an interview yesterday.
“More and more consumers in Taiwan have begun to reduce the frequency of dining out owing to the sluggish economy, which affects our whisky sales,” he said.
Ninomiya said the decline in whisky sales already started in the second half of last year, and was not expected to improve until next year.
Drinks Wines & Spirits Co (橡木桶洋酒), the nation’s largest retailer of imported wines and spirits, agreed with Ninomiya, saying the local whisky market had been affected by the increasingly “M-shaped” society.
The company said that sales of middle-priced whiskies, such as Johnny Walker Black Label, priced between NT$500 and NT$600, declined by 10 percent in the first seven months of this year from a year ago. And consumers are moving towards either high-priced or low-priced whiskies.
“Sales have been slowing since March because of the lack of consumer confidence and rising oil and electricity prices, which have led consumers to become increasingly cautious on spending,” Jessica Yuan (袁德�?marketing director of Drinks Wines & Spirits, said by telephone yesterday.
In addition, Yuan said the company had originally hoped to see 20 percent growth in year-on-year sales this year, but only managed to remain flat as of the end of last month.
However, with better-than-expected Father’s Day sales this week, Yuan said the company is still optimistic about sales growth during the Moon Festival period and the second half of this year.
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