The distilling industry is under pressure. Production pauses, shutdowns, and scale-backs are sweeping across the sector. But is this distracting from a deeper issue facing the craft sector?
In recent months, Tullamore D.E.W. has curtailed output, Irish Distillers have suspended operations, Glenglassaugh has hit pause, and Dublin Liberties Distillery has come to a standstill.
It’s not just Irish and Scotch whisky. Bulleit Bourbon has temporarily halted production at its carbon-neutral distillery. Despite a 1% lift in European sales in late 2024, Diageo saw sharp declines elsewhere, shuttered Chase Distillery, closed a 160-year-old site in India, divested brands like Pampero and Cacique, and pulled investment from Distill Ventures.
This market reset is real. But volumes, value, and growth will (eventually) return. Pernod, Diageo, and Campari are already moving back onto the front foot, even if course correction has been painful.
So if this is temporary, what’s the bigger threat?
For many craft distillers, it’s not the closures or slowdowns. It’s anonymity.
Standing out is hard.
It’s easy to blame current woes on downwards price pressure, increasing inflation, over saturation in the route to market, or surplus stock in warehouses. But if your brand isn’t easy to understand – if your USP isn’t distinctive, your bottle doesn’t stand out on shelf, or your liquid doesn’t say something clear and memorable when tasted – you’re in a weaker position than you need to be.
And that will only get worse. The window to sharpen your point of difference is now, not once the storm has passed.
So, what can you do about it? You have to build differentiation from raw materials all the way through to the relevance your end serve has in a drinker’s life.
If this sounds familiar, it is – the following builds on the foundations laid in our earlier article on the subject.
Differentiation isn’t a branding issue. It’s an operational one.
Too often, differentiation gets treated as a marketing task: the copy on the label, the look of the website, the tone of the feed on Instagram.
But if it were purely a branding issue, third-party producers would be thriving right now. They’re not. Contract bottlers, white-label operations, and sourcing-based spirits brands are facing the same stagnation.
According to a March 2025 Spirits Business analysis, the boom in third-party spirits has plateaued, and demand is shifting. Many supermarket buyers are pulling back on how broad their own label ranges are, and private label NPD is slowing. Why? Because there’s simply too much of the same and it’s hard to build the kind of specific relevancy that keeps a consumer loyal when the point of differentiation is so superficial.
Differentiation has to begin at the core of what you make and how you make it.
It’s behind recipe choices and the raw materials. It’s present in production techniques, the shape of the still and scale of the operation. It is visible in the level of integration between product, people, place and how coherent it is as a story. It’s the combination of a hundred different decisions, and the intent they have to further differentiate your product.
Let’s get specific: what does differentiation look like in real terms?
Differentiation doesn’t always mean wild innovation. It means clarity over what matters. Here are a few practical examples from real-world producers.
One-shot vs multi-shot gin:
While the technical distinction between one-shot and multi-shot production methods has been used as a marker of ‘craft’ gin (falsely as we’ve explained many times, including here) the truth is – very few consumers or buyers understand it, and even fewer make purchase decisions based on it.
Thankfully, many distilleries today are shifting away from leading with it. Instead, they’re quietly switching to multi-shot processes, lowering their COGs, and reinvesting the savings into areas that actually move the needle.
For example, using better botanicals and investing in how that’s being communicated, better trade support, sharper storytelling.
It may seem like a minor adjustment – but it’s a good reminder that differentiation isn’t about clinging to principles no one values. In this case, batch size for gin is inconsequential to 99% of consumers. Getting a better understanding of how unique the flavour is, or what to make with it however…
Cold distillation:
Bingil Bay Distillery in Queensland uses vacuum distillation to produce rum with standout aromatics – a technique that’s earned them international attention. But it’s not just the unusual, sub atmospheric method that makes them interesting. It’s the level of precision, the sensory focus, and the unapologetic nerdiness behind every decision that could (in time) help them differentiate in a crowded category.
No one else makes rum like they do. No one else has the story or the data they do.
Their differentiation isn’t an afterthought. It runs through the entire process and it’s integral to it all. When it comes time to presenting this to consumers, they will have a lot of angles at their disposal to bring to life.
This is the kind of depth that creates authenticity. And because it’s stems from operations onwards, the type of differentiation that keeps showing up irrespective of which touch point you engage with.
Custom yeast strains and co-ferments in whisky:
Holyrood Distillery is carving out its space not with an end-line pitch, but one from the very start of fermentation. By working with distinctive yeast strains, they’ve been able to build flavour and complexity from the foundation up. The variety of New Make spirit they have at their disposal is unique. In time, the story they could tell will – by default – also be different.
Similarly, Starward has trialled d a grape and barley co-ferment process for one of their Limited Edition releases. The flavour impact is massive, and while it may not be appropriate for a flagship Whisky expression as it’s technically a hybrid spirit- it’s the type of project that speaks to their distillery USP – that they use ex-wine casks for all of their maturation.
These brands show that differentiation can begin at the cellular level and scale upwards. Moreover, they show that operational decisions made with intent can become strategic brand building assets.
Got you thinking? Try this quick differentiation audit
Don’t confuse complexity for differentiation. Do not assume that adding layers like extra SKUs, more botanicals, intricate packaging etc. is what creates value.
True standout comes from clarity, not complication.
The above examples are of brands that have either chosen to focus in on one element that makes them different, or about cutting out the comms around something that doesn’t matter to most drinkers.
Simplification is not a compromise; it’s a strategic act. It forces you to define what’s essential, what’s repeatable, and what’s meaningful to your drinker. It forces you to answer the most important question of all – SO WHAT?
Complex processes can be compelling, but only if they deliver something unique, useful, and resonant to the end consumer.
Take five minutes and ask:
- What are we doing in production that no one else can easily replicate?
- Does our liquid demonstrate our USP that we have put on our label? Is it as overt (flavour wise) as it can be?
- Are we building from a flavour-first or identity-first point of view?
- What do trade buyers say when they really describe us?
Your answers should point to a thread that ties product, process, and positioning together.
As an American brand builder pointed out to us – “everyone should know what your USP is”. “Either because they can taste it, or because they’ve watched you make it, or because they’ve been repeatedly told about it. It should be super clear at every point you come across.”
Shelf standout should be a byproduct, not just the goal
You can redesign a label. You can upweight your packaging to turn heads. And sometimes, that’s enough differentiation to get a listing and prompt the first sale.
But real, lasting shelf standout is not a surface exercise. It’s the visible expression of an underlying set of strategic decisions: how you make, who you make for, and why it matters.
As we mentioned earlier, it happens when every decision – from production methods to sourcing choices to flavour construction – is aligned around a clear identity and meaningful intent.
It is also true with your route-to-market model too.
It should move through your range structure and your serve strategy. It’s in what you want the drinker to do with it, and where you see it being poured. It’s present in your pricing logic too, and reinforced through your brand communication.
Step by step you build up your position.
The big levers that agencies tend to pull (like tone of voice, language and brand aesthetic) matter. But those things are most powerful when they reflect decisions that have already been made upstream: why this product, why this format, why now, and why for this audience.
And for the the majority of successful brands – neither differentiation nor synergy between product and drinker happened by accident.
It happened because they thought about who the target drinkers are, what they value, and how their spirit could meet them with clarity, purpose, and relevance.
Look at Hendrick’s Gin for a masterclass in this. Finding their niche, their audience, that cucumber serve, the look of the bottle, the flavour profile – all of that was intentional. What they understood was that it’s possible to use differentiation as a direction for everyone to head towards. As a “north star”.
Where data and process can help
Once you’ve identified your USP, you can use data as a lever to refine everything around it. Start with the fundamentals: what can be dropped, dialled up, reworked, or completely reimagined to sharpen your positioning? What can you optimise to make the point of difference clearer to taste and talk about?
That might mean pulling a slow-selling SKU that doesn’t fit any longer. It might mean refining production workflows to better service your signature serve. It might mean reducing the noise across your brand touchpoints to amplify what really matters…
It’s not easy as it requires compromise.
If you are stuggling to do it, data can make those decisions easier. It removes emotion. It makes trade-offs clearer. And it helps you stay consistent.
Use simple analytics tools. Pull together a spreadsheet or invest in a good IMS. But whatever your method, start collecting the data and reviewing the entire chain, from inbound raw material to where you are getting repeat orders.
When you take the time to analyse what can be done at each stage to better define your point of difference, you will be amazed by what you can double down on. More so by what you can just stop doing all together.
The commercial case for differentiation
Let’s put aside the end consumers for a second. Differentiation can give you a serious edge when pitching to trade. Buyers don’t need more products. They need products with a reason to exist. They want to see category growth potential, clarity of message, and a genuine insight into drinker behaviour.
If you walk into a pitch talking about flavour design, where you sit vs others they stock and the distance between you – they will take note. If you have a defined serve strategy (and can show how that ties into consumer need and the type of venues you are targeting) you’re already ahead.
You are creating interest because of your purpose and the role you are fulfilling. You’ve moved the conversation from “why your gin / rum / whisky when I have 100 others?” to “this is why this brand can drive unique value that you currently don’t have and better appeal to that consumer base”.
Where to start to find clarity of what makes you different:
Differentiation doesn’t have to be invented. It has to be noticed and then built upon. And if you’re not clear on yours, we suggest you start here.
- Can you explain my point of difference in ten words or less?
- Is it embedded in how you make the product and in the flavour drinkers pick up on – not just how we talk about it?
- Are your channels, pricing, and storytelling aligned with that difference?
- What would you stop doing if you fully committed to only talking about your point of difference? What part of your production could you tilt to further augment it and build authenticity in your claim?
- What metrics can you track to prove it’s working?
When you’re distinct, you’re memorable. When you’re memorable, you’re buyable. And when you’re buyable, you’re scalable.
So, with all that said and done, if you are a craft distiller aiming to grow in a crowded market- keep your eyes on the real long term challenge, not the current headwinds. Differentiation isn’t optional, it’s essential and it’s best to start sharpening yours now…
Further reading
If you’re working through your brand positioning, route-to-market strategy, or looking to reposition how operational USP could play out, check out our Go-To-Market Planner.
