Jawbox

Northern Irish gin brand Jawbox has secured listings in 500 Asda stores across the UK.

The Belfast-based brand is already available in over 150 M&S stores across the UK, as well as Sainsbury’s and Tesco in Northern Ireland (rsp: £30/70cl).

The deal was an “important breakthrough for the brand” in a “key market” said Jawbox founder Gerry White.

“We’ve been marketing the gin extensively in Britain over the past year and have also won business in bars, hotels and restaurants. Our success is way above what our expectations would have been at this stage.”

Jawbox had been inspired by the “meteoric” rise of craft beer, he added,

The market for craft spirits such as Jawbox increased in value from £51.m to £72.2m over the past year, making up 1.8% of the total spirits market value - double the 0.9% share it had two years ago, The Grocer reported last week [Nielsen 52 w/e 25 March 2017].