Jägermeister on the wrong shelf for 40 years in Norway
The State Wine Monopoly (Vinmonopolet) will change the location of Jägermeister. They believe it is actually a liqueur, not a bitter. It has been classified as a bitter for 40 years. The decision creates strife.
The reason for relocation is, among other things, the EU rules for categorizing spirits. Systembolaget in Sweden categorizes the drink as a liqueur already, according to Aftenposten.
According to the EU regulations, a liqueur must be at least 30 proof. The minimum sugar content is, likewise, 70–100 grams per litre, depending on the method of manufacture.
Jägermeister is 70 proof (35 volume per cent) and contains 13,2 per cent sugar.
Nevertheless, it has for 40 years been categorised as a bitter by Vinmonopolet. That is also the case in the duty-free stores at Norwegian airports.
Approximately 425,000 litres of the bitter-sweet ‘manly’ drink is sold by the Norwegian State Monopoly every year.
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Liqueur bitter
CEO of Robert Prizelius AS, Morten Espe, who represents Jägermeister in Norway, is critical of the proposed relabelling.
He believes that Jägermeister is bitter and herbaceous in taste. It, therefore, does not belong together with sweet liqueurs. He points out that the drink in Germany and the United States is referred to as a herb liqueur, to distinguish it from the sweet variants.
He suggests creating a separate category called liqueur bitter, in a letter to Vinmonopolet.
Communications Manager of Vinmonopolet, Jens Nordahl, does not know why the drink has ended up where it is. He agrees that it may be appropriate to create a separate category.
“We are working on finding an adequate category position for this product, either in an existing category or in a subcategory,” Nordahl informs.
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© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
