Pernod Ricard’s Inverroche acquisition marks new era for African craft gin

12 Feb 2025

In July 2019, French spirits conglomerate Pernod Ricard bought a majority stake in African gin brand Inverroche, and this week the company stepped firmly into the African gin market by purchasing the remaining stake.

The acquisition of Inverroche is well timed, considering the growing popularity of gin worldwide. According to Statista, the gin market in South Africa is expected to undergo steady growth, with revenue projected to reach $36.3-million in 2025 and increase by 3.78% annually from 2025 to 2029.

In terms of volume, Statista forecasts that the gin market will reach 3.1 million litres in 2025, with three million litres attributed to at-home consumption and 136,200 litres to out-of-home consumption.

Against this backdrop of growth and opportunity, the French spirits conglomerate Pernod Ricard has acquired the luxury African gin brand Inverroche. The acquisition, which was concluded on Thursday, 6 February, marks a major milestone in Pernod Ricard’s growth strategy in Africa and underscores the continent’s growing importance in the global spirits market.

Pernod Ricard’s managing director for Africa, Sola Oke, said the acquisition demonstrated the company’s commitment to the African market and its potential for growth.

“Africa is a market with great potential for Pernod Ricard. Our investment in Inverroche demonstrates the continued commitment of our group to Africa, and our belief in the continent’s potential as a significant white space opportunity in the world for the Premium+, Spirits & Champagne segment. This is an important milestone in realising our ambition to make Inverroche Africa’s first global luxury spirit brand.

The history of Inverroche

With this ambitious goal in mind, it’s worth taking a closer look at Inverroche’s history and what has driven its success. As a key player in this growing market, Inverroche has established itself as a pioneering force in South African craft gin. Founded by Lorna Scott and her family more than a dozen years ago, Inverroche Distillery has grown from a small home industry to a flourishing craft distillery.

Located in Stilbaai, Western Cape, the distillery has become a benchmark for premium gin production in South Africa. Inverroche pioneered the use of indigenous fynbos to infuse traditional gin botanicals, and has experienced significant growth, with its products now available in 25 markets worldwide, including the United States.

The name “Inverroche” combines the Scottish word “Inver,” meaning “a confluence of water,” and the French word “Roche,” meaning “rock or stone.” This name pays homage to the Scott family’s ancestry and references the unique elements that come together in Stilbaai to create Inverroche’s world-class gins.

Inverroche’s gin-making process is unique, using a proprietary method that involves layering selected botanicals into specially designed steam baskets within the pot still. This process allows for the gentle extraction of aromatic oils from the fynbos, resulting in a subtle yet complex spirit.

Job creation

Today, Inverroche has three distinct gins, crafted using only a handful of more than 9,000 fynbos botanicals.

Inverroche has also had a notable impact on job creation and sustainability initiatives in the local community, with every bottle filled, labelled, and boxed by hand. The brand is one of the largest employers in the Stilbaai and Riversdale area. Seventy percent of its employees are female, many of whom are single parents. During the December peak period, Inverroche created an additional 30 temporary jobs to manage the increased visitor numbers at its brand home in Stilbaai.

Tough market

The spirit industry is not without its challenges. Christian Wilderer of Wilderer Distilleries, South Africa's first private license holder, reflected on the changing landscape of the gin industry. With 30 years of experience in the business, Wilderer has witnessed the rise and fall of trends.

“Gin itself as a category has been declining over the last two to three years… The huge gin boom, which started in South Africa around 2013 and 2014, was a phenomenal success for many craft distilleries, including ours. We launched our gin in 2015, and it was crazy – craft gin was the biggest thing, just like craft beer.”

However, as time passed and Covid hit, the major players in the industry took notice and began to rebrand and reposition themselves.

“The big boys like Pernod Ricard, Diageo and Campari woke up to the trend and started pounding money into it. In South Africa, it’s common for them to pay listing fees to popular restaurants and bars, which can be challenging for small, independent distilleries like ours to compete with,” Wilderer told Daily Maverick.

Lucy Beard, distiller and co-owner of Hope Distillery, also noted that gin growth slowed after the pandemic, but consumption remained high as a segment in the spirits category. “Gin has grown enormously as a spirit worldwide and South Africa has certainly followed the trend. In South Africa, the growth started from late 2017 and by 2019 it was truly booming; consumers realised that gin was more than just a juniper-infused spirit and could be incredibly different depending on what botanicals were used. The variety of local botanicals (fynbos, and other trees and flowers) made for an incredible range of different gin flavour profiles,” she said.

According to Beard, the market has been tough in South Africa, particularly in the craft sector, where there was an initial explosion in the number of players and then a steadying of demand.

“While gin consumption has not slowed, there has been a contraction in the number of gin brands out there. The highly coloured and intensely flavoured gins have seen a downturn with an increase in the consumption of more classic gins with a slight South African twist from natural botanicals. It shows a maturing market: an appreciation that gin is about juniper (all gins have to have juniper as a botanical) with more nuance in other botanicals,” said Beard.

Beard said the acquisition of Inverroche by Pernod showcased the global recognition of South Africa’s craft gin industry. This deal highlighted the industry’s credibility and appeal.

Read more: Gin, blessed spirit of the liquor cabinet

As the industry continues to gain momentum, Beard said gin was also driving a shift in the world of cocktails.

“There is an increasing interest in cocktails and gin is playing an enormous role in this. While over the past few years sweet and brightly coloured cocktails were enjoyed, there’s now an increased focus on the classics in which gin is the star. For example, negronis, martinis and clover club,” she said. DM

African Botanics Negroni

This trend is evident in the creative twists on classic cocktails being crafted by local distilleries. One such example is the Time Anchor distillery which is experimenting with unique flavours and recipes for cocktails.

The African Botanics Negroni, a South African twist on the classic Negroni.

Recipe courtesy of Time Anchor Distillery.

Ingredients

25ml Mirari African Botanics Gin
25ml Campari
25ml Sweet Vermouth
Orange Twist (to garnish)

Method

Fill a mixing glass with ice.
Add Mirari Gin, Campari, and Sweet Vermouth to the mixing glass.
Stir until well chilled.
Strain into a tumbler filled with large ice cubes.
Garnish with an orange peel.

For a variation, top with tonic or soda water, or replace the sweet vermouth with Caperitif for an extra South African taste. DM

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