Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and a more competitive spirits market, Tanduay managed to outsell other rum brands and win its fifth consecutive World’s Number Rum 1 award. 

Billionaire Lucio Tan’s grandson, Lucio Tan III, who took the reins at Tanduay Distillers, Inc. as president and chief operating officer just before the Covid-19 pandemic struck led the company in selling 23.7 million nine-liter cases in 2021.

The younger Tan said Tanduay has stayed ahead of the game owing to diligence of the people behind it—the local farmers, the people working at the distillery bottling plants, research and development group, and marketing team.

“Together, they have continued Tanduay’s winning legacy,” Tan said.
In a letter sent by Shay Waterworth, editor of Drinks International’s The Millionaire’s Club, he confirmed that “Tanduay was the number one selling rum brand in the world in 2021.”

“They have held the title of world’s number one rum for five consecutive years now. Overall, Tanduay was ranked the sixth best-selling spirit brand in the world across all categories,” Waterworth said.

Drinks International Magazine collected annual data on 154 million-case brands from public company reports and directly requested results. 

It noted that “aggressive export strategy in 2020 spelt huge gains for LT Group’s Tanduay and the Philippine-based giant managed to maintain those advances this year, preserving its ranking as the world’s bestseller.”

Tanduay’s export business has experienced steady growth in the past year, as it continued to sign partnerships with leading international distributors. 

As of this writing, the Filipino brand is now being marketed in 12 US states and the territory of Guam; Singapore; China; the United Arab Emirates; Germany; Belgium; the Netherlands; Luxembourg; and the United Kingdom. 

Tanduay also continued its partnerships with leading teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA), which include champions, the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks. Last year, it also started its partnership with the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Tanduay recorded a P1.2 billion net income in 2021, with net revenues increasing by 6.7 percent. It enjoyed a 27 percent share of the Philippines’ overall spirits market.

Meanwhile, Tanduay and the Bacolod City Government forged their partnership staging the Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival from Aug. 12 to 20, 2022.

Bacolod and Tanduay first staged the festival in 2019 to pay homage to the province’s sugarcane industry. However, the event was called off in 2020 and 2021 because of the global pandemic. 

Tan said this year, Tanduay saw it fit to hold the Rum Festival again to bring attention back to the sugarcane industry and refuel the city’s tourism economy.

“We are excited to work with the new Bacolod City Government in bringing attention to the important role of Negros Occidental’s sugarcane economy in the steady growth of Tanduay overseas and the international awards it has received,” Tan said.