Cream Liqueur’s pre-Christmas campaign
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 Nielsen figures indicate that the value of Irish cream liqueur sales in the Irish off-trade sector increased by 3.4% 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 campaign aims to highlight the fact that Irish cream liqueur is protected by an EU-recognised Geographic Indication and it aims 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.
“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,” stated ISA Chairman John Harte, “After a lost decade, during which growth in the category stalled, I’m delighted to see that Irish Cream Liqueur sales are once again growing in Ireland and globally.
“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.
A further such event subsequently took place in London.
