Cachaça is something of an iceberg – what you see internationally is just 1% of this gargantuan beast of a category, which is almost entirely consumed domestically. And when a huge job still needs to be done on educating consumers in international markets, most of the 5,000 or so brands stay home in Brazil. Indeed, even in the world’s best bars, cachaça has yet to really find its way. It splits down like this: three-quarters stock one brand, a half stock two, a third have three.
So, with few spots on the back bar to fight over, emerging craft producers and volume players occupy the same list, vying as they mostly are for a spot in the category’s regular ride: the Caipirinha.
Bacardi’s Leblon has now made it two wins on the spin, vanquishing memories of its runner-up finishes. Fifteen per cent of our sample that sold cachaça made it the house while 35% had it among their top three. Meanwhile, volume brand Cachaça 51 takes runner-up spot again this year. It might count itself unlucky – it was more often a house pour (18%) but less often part of the supporting cast (31%).
The organic and artistically produced Yaguara cachaça is one of the many emerging brands attempting to tell the story of the category’s provenance and craftmanship. Yaguara maintained its third spot this year, putting pressure on the top two. Fourteen per cent of bars that stock cachaça said it was their go-to, while 28% said it was among their top three.
In fourth, and tellingly the number one trending cachaça, was Avuá. This single source craft cachaça, which comes in unaged and aged expressions, was in the conversation for house pour (13%) but only a little more likely to be in the top three (19%). Abelha is a craft cachaça produced by a social enterprise of sugarcane farmers – it was one of the top five fighting it out for house pour (14%) but wasn’t very often second or third choice.
The bottom five includes some big brands – Sagatiba, Ypióca, Germana, Magnifica and Pitu – but according to our poll, they operate in more of a supporting role in this channel.
How we did it
The Annual Brands Report results are the culmination of a survey of 100 bars from 33 countries around the world which have been nominated or won international awards. The report offers a picture of the buying habits of the world’s best bars – not only which brands sell best, but also what’s trending to indicate the brands that are hot right now.
To view the page-turner edition of the Brands Report click here.
The Brands Report will be serialised on drinksint.com throughout January.
