Despite global headwinds for spirits, Spiribam – the family group based in Martinique – is bucking the trend. CEO Gregoire Gueden tells Drinks Retailing how the Caribbean rum portfolio is driving growth in key markets, leaning on Mangrove Global in the UK, and why he believes the industry’s current turbulence is only temporary.
There’s a lot of debate around just how much the global spirits industry is struggling. Behaviour change, economic decline, sober curiosity and the rise of GLP1s (a class of medications originally developed for type 2 diabetes, but now widely prescribed for weight loss) are all hailed as being contributing factors to the industry’s issues. And if we look at the recently published half year results of some of the bigger conglomerates – we see decline and modest growth at best.
By contrast, the Spiribam portfolio (own by Groupe Bernard Hayot) reported 2% global growth for its spirits arm in the first half of this year. The portfolio boasts some of the Caribbean’s top rums, including Martinique’s Rhum Clement, St. Lucian Bounty and Chairman’s Reserve. Gregoire Gueden (pictured), the portfolio’s president and CEO of the group’s spirits arm says the growth the business has achieved – in the current market – is something to celebrate. Additionally, the long-term the industry shouldn’t be concerned.
Challenging times
Gueden said: “There’s no doubt that it’s a challenging time for spirits, but we need to take that with a pinch of salt. What we’re seeing isn’t permanent – it’s a shakeup. We enjoyed almost a decade of premiumisation, of people buying up with their spirits, and now thanks to numerous factors, we’re having to change how we work.
The overarching global trends are that volume sales are down, but sales by spend are maintaining with a very slight decline, he continued. The group is seeing pockets of growth in emerging categories like Mezcal and low & no, but these are too small to impact the wider industry trends.
“People also have less disposable income and it’s now hitting the premium end of the market globally. Bottles over £30 are (largely) harder to sell, but we’ve put more people on the ground, focused on driving sales and achieved significant growth in key markets – proof that there’s still success to be had.”
In spite of the challenges presented by tariffs, Spiribam achieved 4% growth in the US in the first half of this year. It also achieved 8% growth in the UK, largely supported by Mangrove Global, the UK distributor acquired by the group in 2023. But the US government’s trade tariffs have had wider impacts well beyond the shores of the US.
“Both the US and China are huge markets for spirits – and the disruption between these two, caused by American trade tariffs, has had a sizeable impact on the larger spirits conglomerates. To compensate, brands have refocused their efforts in Europe, putting pressure on these markets by reducing prices. That makes Europe a more challenging region for the rest of us.
“We don’t have the economies of scale to compete with them on price, so we need to drive sales in other ways. Giving our partners in the on and off-trade the tools they need to sell, having increased, industrious sales teams and focusing on more defensive strategies are how we’re competing,” Gueden said.
The UK view
Closer to home, the UK continues to feel the pinch of macro-economical and political changes. In June this year, the annual inflation rate peaked at its highest since January 2024, at 4.4%, with the Consumer Price Index 12-month rate for alcohol and tobacco hitting 6.4% in June 2025, before falling to 5.7% in July (ONS figures). All of this backs up the view that the cost of living continues to impact consumer spending and confidence. According to Food Manufacture’s Drinks Report 2025, it is also the main contributing factor to the decline of sales by volume of spirits in the UK. That same report states that supermarkets have the weakest channel performance, although premiumisation is still more prevalent in the UK than in other markets.
Gueden says this effect on consumer confidence isn’t just unique to the UK, but history shows us it will rebound.
“Political turmoil is currently at such a level that it’s difficult to predict what will happen for the industry in the next six to twelve months. But if you look at the inflated growth experienced during Covid, the pockets of premiumisation we see in certain categories and regions and the stable YOY global sales by spend figures in spirits, there’s a lot of reassurance to be found.
“Moving forward, we now have fixed tariffs for trade with the US which will help us to plan accordingly, and our mid-term strategy is very focused on growth. We are looking to acquire new brands, especially in the US, and recently announced the addition of Le Philtre Vodka to our portfolio. Our owned distribution channels in the US and France will also soon take on third-party brands – a model we have already seen succeed through Mangrove in the UK,” Gueden said.
Gueden’s optimism has been echoed by Mangrove’s founder and MD Nick Gillett, who has stated that the industry will have to weather the storm before we see a rationalisation of the market. Opportunities exist for brands, but nothing will come easy. It’s a time for rolling up sleeves and doing the hard yards.
Founded in 1960, GBH developed in the overseas departments, then expanded internationally. The spirits division of the group, known as Spiribam, oversees the production and global marketing of its portfolio in more than 70 countries, focused on championing world-renowned rums.
