Who would have guessed just over 10 years ago that craft beer would become such a huge trend? What started off as just a few local brews sold locally, inched up to steal market shares from some of the biggest players, and now represent over 11 percent in volume of the U.S. market, and more importantly, close to 20 percent of the market in value. Some were taken by surprise, some rode the wave and profited, but undoubtedly, everyone now asks, “where is the next trend coming from?”

There is certainly plenty of U.S. consumer research and data tracking to keep every trade analyst busy, so instead of looking in, I propose to look outside of our borders to see what interesting trends are taking place in Europe and Asia. Without a doubt, one trend stands out from the rest: the growth of premium “craft-like” gin.