Brazilian Gin Competes Against European Brands for Market Share

09/04/2017 - 11h28

A trend among cocktail lovers, gin has gained Brazilian flavors as it received the addition of citric fruit such as tangerines and rangpur, as well as puxuri and pacová, spices from the Amazon.

These are the differences offered by the small national producers of gin, who are now competing against well-known brands from Europe.

The local market is growing: consulting company Euromonitor say that, between 2011 and 2016, the amount transacted in the sales of Brazilian gin increased by 29.8%.

Those entering the market are often gin consumers themselves.

Amázzoni, which began operations this year, was created during meetings of its partners to enjoy a drink. The first batch of gin was made for their own consumption, says partner Arturo Isola.

Slovenian Mike Simko, 35, of Arapuru, went to England to consult master distillers to create the formula for his drink.

Juliana Brebert, a consultant at Sebrae, says that the biggest challenge is to create a gin-drinking culture in the country, as the drink is not traditional in Brazil.

In addition to winning Brazilians' preference, some brands are already planning to grow with exports even to Europe, where the tradition of drinking gin is already consolidated, and Asia.

Another company, Virga, which produces 1,000 bottles every month, began to send boxes of Brazilian gin to countries such Austria and Singapore.

"We use 15% of cachaça in our drink, which gives it a unique taste, typical of Brazil," says partner Felipe Januzzi, 31.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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	Karime Xavier/Folhapress
	In addition to winning Brazilians' preference, some gin brands are already planning to grow with exports even to Europe