By: Staff Writer
January 11, 2022
A Miami based Liquor distributor is seeing positive signs of growth in the Caribbean and Central America, says that sales are 30 percent above 2020.
Andy Consuegra, chief executive officer of WEBB Banks, a wine and spirits distributor out of Miami, Florida, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that business is “very good” for the company and had finished 2021 “30 percent above 2020,” and does not expect for this momentum to let up any time soon.
In fact, the wine and spirits markets are red hot going into 2022 and premium brands are leading the way. “We saw strong growth before COVID-19 and then an acceleration during COVID-19. So, what we’re seeing as an industry is, people aren’t necessarily consuming more, but they’re consuming better. It’s a trend that started prior to the pandemic, but it accelerated during the pandemic, particularly early on, when so many people weren’t locked at home and weren’t going out,” said Mr Consuegra.
He continued, “Instead of spending money out on restaurants now, people wanted to still have a special meal during the lockdowns and they wanted that special connection with who they were locked down with. We are seeing a continuation of that. That’s where our brands did really well last year instead of focusing on the value side of things.”
This 30-year veteran of the liquor market understands that 2022 will not be a cake-walk and that WEBB Banks will have to work for every new customer they get. This means the introduction of new products and the promotion of existing brands that people are trending towards having a strong appreciation for.
Mr Consuegra also said: “So our top selling brands are Tito’s vodka. Tito’s is a strong brand in the Caribbean and a really strong brand in all the islands. It’s a huge brand. Now in the US, it’s the largest spirit brand in the United States and one of the largest in Canada as well.
“What’s happening in the Caribbean is that the both the tourists are consuming it and they’re very loyal consumers to the brand, but also in most markets. Now for the locals in all of the different islands, they’re drinking it as well. So we’re very happy with that sort of combination. So that’s number one.”
He added: “19 Crimes is a very important brand for us as well. That’s very big for us. It is a wine brand out of Australia. The marketing for this has been spectacular. It’s one of the first brands to use augmented reality where you can put your phone against the label and the app will show you how characters will come to life.”
There is even a peanut butter flavoured whisky that WEBB Banks will be rolling out in 2022. “It’s a premium whiskey with a great taste,” he said.
Supply chain issues have created challenges in 2021 leading into 2022 for WEBB Banks like every other import/export business and something Mr Consuegra feels will continue on well into 2022. “But we think at least through the first half of this year, and possibly well into the second half of this year and early next year as well. Now we do feel we got ahead of it, we felt we felt pretty strongly that we were going to have a very good summer last year. So we worked with our partners and all the markets, all the distributors and wholesalers and resorts to ordering more than what they normally would for the offseason and that got us ahead of the curve,” Mr Consuegra also said.