In the early days of the pandemic, Beverage Trade Network had announced the postponement of the London Spirits Competition’s judging date to July 8, 2020. Along with the judging date being extended, the final date to enter spirits was also extended to June 20, 2020, and remains the same.

With the pandemic still powering through, this has proven to be a tough time for distilleries and spirits brands, and finding a way back into the market is going to be even tougher. With consumer demands changing, buying slowing down a little, and other things happening, distilleries and spirits brands have taken a huge hit when it comes to sales and visibility.

However, the one positive thing is that people are still drinking, the only issue is that distilleries and spirits brands need to once again prove their credibility to the audience. As a distillery/brand, you need to show your audience that you’re still producing, you have the stock, and you’re doing it all safely. Right now, most people are worried about safety and sanitization more than anything else, and all they want to know is who is doing that?

For two consecutive years, the London Spirits Competition has been successful in promoting and giving spirits a platform to get in front of industry leaders and build their credibility. The 3rd edition of the London Spirits Competition is set to do exactly, especially since the industry needs it more than ever as of now. Finding your way back into the market is hard, but with the London Spirits Competition, you will not only be able to give your spirits a boost, but you will also be able to see where your spirits stand in the market.

Why London spirits Competition?

Beverage Trade Network, the organizers of the London Spirits Competition asked over a hundred buyers across the globe about how they pick spirits for their portfolios and lists. In the end, it all boiled down to three main aspects - Quality, Value, & Packaging.

The average customer always looks at the price first. Then they look at the label and pick out the spirits with designs and stories that appeal to them. So, these two things come before a producer even gets a chance to show how well their product is.

Keeping this in mind, the London Spirits Competition has successfully birthed a new judging process for spirits, creating a judging process that differentiates from all other global spirits competitions. 

For years, all global spirits competitions have been organized the same way, by drinks being blind-tasted and judged on the basis of quality. Apart from quality, the London Spirits Competition also judges all the spirits on their packaging and value for money. To be more precise, the London spirits Competition judges in the way a consumer would, when picking a bottle.

Along with winners being awarded medals, the London Spirits Competition also offers a wide range of marketing tools to help take winning brands forward, including year-round social media promotion by London Spirits Competition and Beverage Trade Network. Not only that, but the results go to 50,000+ trade professionals around the world in the Beverage Trade Network community. LSC results will also get press awareness among media partners of the London Spirits Competition and will be posted on BTN news and Bevroute News. To top it all off, the results also go to 20,000+ spirits Buyers around the world.

CHECK OUT WINNING BENEFITS

Putting this into place, the London Spirits Competition judges spirits based on three main criteria:

Quality

We celebrate the spirits that are both enjoyable and easy to drink, spirits that are well-balanced where their acidity, tannins and alcohol levels all work seamlessly together.

Packaging

What a brand looks like is how every consumer chooses their spirits. Up to 70% of consumers would choose a new drink just because it looks good. So, well-designed packaging is a must-to-consider factor.

Value

To be a good spirit, it is not necessary to have a higher or cheaper price. What affects most is the value for money it holds.

In simpler words, medal-winning spirits are those that:

• Offer the best value for the price

• Offer the best quality for their price

• Stand out of the shelf against the competitors

• Tell their story in the most relevant way

Judging Process

The judging panel of the London Spirits Competition includes a wide range of industry experts, ranging from bartenders, head bartenders, to bar managers, along with those who have current direct commercial buying responsibility, along with drinks consultants and experts who are also directly involved in the development of new brands/buying drinks for commercial resale.

Spirits entered in the London Spirits Competition are judged by those industry experts who know exactly what the consumer wants, and what others will buy for the consumers - because in the end, if consumers don’t want your spirits, then it’s not going to sell. The London Spirits Competition will help breweries and brands find out if consumers actually want their spirits or not, or if buyers are willing to buy them.

Check out judges for the 2020 London Spirits Competition

The points scored when judging the three competitions are divided to ensure the right weighting is given to each of the three key criteria of quality, price and design. It is broken down as such.

Quality Score: marked out of 50

Value Score: marked out of 25

Packaging/Design Score: marked out of 25

For the medals:

• Gold: you need to score 90 or over.

• Silver: a score between 76-89.

• Bronze: a score between 65-75.

Along with the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, the London spirits Competition also offers seven other special category awards, namely:

• Spirit Of The Year

• Vodka Of The Year

• Rum Of The Year

• Tequila Of The Year

• Gin Of The Year

• Whisky Of The Year

• Distillery Of The Year

• Best In Show By Country

• Best Spirits Of The Year By Quality

• Best Spirits Of The Year By Value

• Best Spirits Of The Year By Package

Key Dates:

Registration Open Till 20 June 2020

Warehouse Closes For Samples: 30 June 2020

Judging: 6 July 2020

Winners Announced: 20 July 2020

Pricing:

£170: Regular Price: Till 20th June 2020

Make the most of your entry

The London Spirits Competition also offers a quantity discount benefit for the sake of distilleries and spirits brands.

3 to 8 entries: 10% discount

9 to 13 entries: 15% discount

14 or more entries: 20% discount

ENTER YOUR SPIRITS NOW