Top Shelf International diversifies into agave spirits category in a big way

ASX listed spirits company Top Shelf International's (TSI) 430-hectare agave farm – Eden Lassie Farm - just inland from the Great Barrier Reef has captured the attention of international media as TSI continues to diversify its portfolio and with its sights set on export markets.

The Melbourne based distillery sells its NED whisky and Grainshaker vodka domestically, but estimates that agave spirits will be a $9.5 billion global category by the end of 2021.

TSI told Bloomberg that it counts the US and China as key export markets with Chief Executive Officer, Drew Fairchild suggesting as much as AUD$100 million (USD$77.7 million) in annual turnover from the still-unnamed agave spirit could reach shelves of select Australian outlets and be available online by the end of the year, he said.

“On the agave side, we’d like to launch that not only in Australia, but also in the US from the get-go,” Fairchild told Bloomberg, “It’ll be a $9.5 billion market by the time we get our spirit to market in the U.S. alone.”

In 2020 tequila sales grew by 46 per cent globally and in the US, approximately 180m litres of tequila are sold every year. Australians are now the world’s third-biggest consumer of Tequila per capita, behind the USA and Mexico, and agave spirit is set to become the third-largest spirits category in the US by 2024.

In Australia, Dan Murphy’s Category Manager Trading - Spirits & Premix, James Duvnjak said: “We are seeing a new era of Tequila globally and Australia is right on the trend with premium Tequila one of our fastest growing drinks categories. Tequila is no longer just for shots but for sipping like a fine whisky or creating a personal twist on a cocktail.”

In 2019 TSI purchased a largely uncared-for plantation at a sugar refinery in Ayr, north Queensland where around 2,000 plants had been planted more than a decade earlier as an experimental crop but had been all but forgotten. Agave plants take about six years to mature.

TSI harvested the crop in August 2019 and June 2020 as part of their R&D to establish “that a distilled Australian agave spirit was possible” before embarking on a series of distillation trials to “prove the concept”.

The most widely known agave spirits are Tequila and Mezcal: names are protected under appellations laws like Champagne meaning they can only be produceD in specific ways and within designated regions.

Mezcal can be distilled from a variety of Agave varieties while Tequila must be distilled from the Blue Agave, Agave Tequilana Weber Azul.

TSI has 420K Blue Agave plants in the ground and nursery. Grown in the tropical climate of Queensland, the agave spirit derived from these plants is unique with a flavour and character specific to its terroir. Head distiller Sebastian Reaburn describes the flavours as "honey and lime peel, fresh herbaceous mid pallet with cut grass, then moving into mineral structure and complexity. Clean finish of limestone and lime".

TSI have once again called on US brand design agency, Pearlfisher for brand development. Pearlfisher also designed TSI’s Grainshaker Hand Made Australian Vodka brand.

Brand name, look, feel and launch should arrive in time for summer.