Search Results for: 2019 DTC Wine Growth On Par with 2018

Dear Client: Yesterday Campari Group announced plans to purchase Courvoisier from Beam Suntory for $1.2 billion, with a potential earn-out of $120 million, marking the largest deal in Campari’s history [see WSD 12-14-2023].  Current Campari chief Bob Kunze-Concewitz and cfo Paolo Marchesini hosted a call yesterday afternoon to provide more color on the acquisition and … Continue reading “Campari Brass Talk Plans to Bring Courvoisier Back to Life”

Dear Client: The ready-to-drink category has buoyed total spirits performance recently. Including RTDs, spirits volumes were down 2.5% for the rolling 12 months through August in SipSource data. Excluding RTDs, volumes were down further at -4.4%.  Last week, SipSource analysts Danny Brager and Dale Stratton provided a deep dive into the category during the SipSource … Continue reading “RTDs are Now the Second-Largest Spirits Category by Volume”

Dear Client:    Yesterday we reported on the passing of long-time Diageo chief Sir Ivan Menezes at the age of 63, just weeks ahead of his planned retirement [see WSD 06-07-2023]. In today’s issue we’ll take a look back at some of the highlights of Ivan’s leadership at the powerhouse drinks company.  Ivan joined Diageo at its … Continue reading “A Look Back at Ivan Menezes’ Tenure at Diageo”

Dear Client:   At the tail end of 2022, Sazerac announced the move from Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) to a handful of other distributors, including beer distributors. Shortly after that announcement, Sazerac filed suit against RNDC, alleging non-payment for inventory in addition to chronic poor performance and market disruption [see WSD 01-16-2023].  RNDC tells … Continue reading “RNDC Tells a Very Different Story in Response to Sazerac Lawsuit”

Dear Client:   Today Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits shared findings from its 2022 Liquid Insights Tour, which the wholesaler describes as a coast-to-coast educational initiative to explore and identify the latest cocktail and wine trends on-premise.  “Our driving purpose for conducting the Liquid Insights Tour was to uncover innovative beverage trends and experiences across … Continue reading “SGWS Shares Top 10 On-Premise Wine & Cocktail Trends”

Dear Client:   Yesterday we published the first part of our interview with Far Niente Family of Wineries and Vineyards ceo Steve Spadarotto [see WSD 12-01-2021]. Today we’ll pick up where we left off as Steve discusses launching Post & Beam last year, where he expects future growth to come from, and goals and priorities … Continue reading “Far Niente has a Clear Path to Keep Expanding”

Dear Client:  After seeing the largest ever year-over-year volume increase in 2020 (up 27%), direct-to-consumer wine shipments were up just 1.9% for the first half of 2021 due to tough comps, according to ShipCompliant’s mid-year DTC report. Meanwhile, the value of DTC wine shipments was up 12.2% to $1.89 billion for the six-month period.  “It’s … Continue reading “2021 DTC Wine Volume Growth Slows, but Value Still up Double Digits”

Dear Client: Last week, Constellation Brands announced its latest investment through Constellation Ventures: La Fete du Rose wine brand, the first investment made as part of the Focus on Minority Founders initiative [see WSD 05-13-2021].  Your editor got founder Donae Burston on the horn to learn more about the nascent brand, the investment, and plans … Continue reading “How La Fete du Rose Captured Constellation’s Attention (and Investment)”

Dear Client: A recent craft spirits survey found that direct-to-consumer shipping generated an average of nearly 40% of total craft distiller sales— for those able to take advantage of the channel— in 2020 [see WSD 03-31-2021]. It’s clearly a channel that’s become increasingly important for the craft spirits industry, and indeed was a topic that … Continue reading “DTC Channel as a “Marketing Vehicle” for Craft Spirits”

Dear Client: Constellation Brands ended its fiscal year (ended February 28) with total net sales up 3%. The company’s wine and spirits business reported depletions down 2.8% and net sales down 7% for the year. But on an organic basis, wine and spirits net sales were up 2%.  “Fiscal 2021 was a year of significant … Continue reading “Constellation’s Fiscal ’21 a “Year of Significant Progress” for W&S Biz”