Dear Client: Sir Ivan Menezes, the long-serving CEO of Diageo, has died at the age of 63 after a short illness.   Ivan had been CEO since 2013 until he stepped back this week. He had been in the hospital being treated for medical conditions including a stomach ulcer. “This is an incredibly sad day. Ivan … Continue reading "Breaking: Diageo’s Ivan Menezes Dies"

Dear Client:     News is breaking as we speak that New England's top wine and spirits wholesaler (indeed, the number six wine and spirits wholesaler in the nation) is acquiring one of the area's largest beer wholesalers, Massachusetts-based A-B/Constellation house, Quality Beverage, subject of course to supplier and regulatory approval. Partners are being notified now.  … Continue reading "Martignetti Acquiring a Top New England Beer Wholesaler, Quality Beverage"

Dear Client:   This week your editors attended the 31st annual Wine Industry Financial Symposium in Napa. Every year, the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University presents findings from its wine executive survey, providing insight into what's impacting revenue (the good and the bad), the state of inventory, how they're addressing trends, and more.   … Continue reading "Wine Execs on What’s Impacting Revenue in ’22"

Dear Client:   Editor’s note: Power has been finicky here in Texas due to snow and ice. We’re working with what we have, so apologies for the inevitable mistakes and typos. Treasury Wine Estates reported total net sale revenues up 8.2% for the first half of fiscal 2021. But the big news from the company’s … Continue reading "TWE Restructures into Three Brand-Led Divisions"

Dear Client:  Call 2020 the year that bev alc e-commerce really arrived. Or at least, flung the door wide open.   Today, the largest platform for bev alc e-commerce, Drizly, announced it has closed a $50 million Series C funding round. New York based investment firm Avenir led the round, with participation by Tiger Global "and … Continue reading "Drizly Expects 20% of Off-Premise Alcohol Sales to Go Online by 2025"

Dear Client: Yesterday, we published the first part of our interview with Distill Ventures managing director North America Gonzalo de la Pezuela [see WSD 08-01-2019]. Today, we'll pick up right where we left off in the conversation.  WSD: Tell me more about the US subsidiary Redwood Brands. Gonzalo: Redwood grows out of a market need … Continue reading "Why Profit Margins Don’t Drive Distill Ventures’ US Operation"

Dear Client: Distill Ventures, the Diageo-backed spirits accelerator program, was established in 2013. The company provides sales and marketing expertise to help smaller brands achieve greater scale.  Your editor sat down with DV managing director North America, Gonzalo de la Pezuela, to discuss the ins and outs of DV and the state of the US … Continue reading "The Ins and Outs of Distill Ventures"

Dear Client: 2019 has been a busy year on the M&A front. In fact, we've reported on more deals this year than this time last year. The deals mostly fall under a few categories: filling portfolio gaps/ expanding into new categories; beefing up vineyard holdings; and getting rid of assets weighing on the bottom line.   … Continue reading "What’s Driving Supplier M&A Activity in 2019"

Dear Client: Campari posted a strong first-half performance, with the North America region growing by 10.3%, thanks to the company's largest market, the US, which grew organically by 10.9% (up 10.7% for Q2), with solid growth across all brands but SKYY.   "The U.S. now accounts for 29.3% of our total sales," says Campari chief Robert … Continue reading "Campari Growing Despite NYT Aperol Hit Piece"

Dear Client: Just two months after Republic National Distributing Co. and Breakthru Beverage Group decided to kill their proposed merger, RNDC and Young's Market have announced a definitive agreement to partner in all markets that Young's currently operates, per a release. Under the terms of the agreement, RNDC and the Underwood family will oversee Young's … Continue reading "RNDC and Young’s Market Announce JV"