Dear Client:   Last week we published the first part of our interview with the Santo Spirits team, providing a look at the company’s new aggressive business acceleration plan [see WSD 02-23-2023]. Today we’ll dig more into the company’s plans to tap into Guy Fieri’s fan base as well as their plans to go beyond … Continue reading “Part II: Taking Santo Spirits Beyond Tequila”

Dear Client:   The 2023 Consumer Analyst Group of New York, aka CAGNY, took place this week. Constellation Brands and Diageo execs took the stage this year, and one thing both companies pointed to is that there’s still plenty of room to grow.  CONSTELLATION CHIEF DETAILS CONSUMER-LED TRENDS DRIVING STRATEGY During Constellation Brands’ presentation at … Continue reading “Constellation and Diageo Bullish on Long Runways for Growth at CAGNY”

Dear Client:   Santo Spirits was created in 2017 by music artist Sammy Hagar and celebrity chef Guy Fieri.  The company recently brought on former Campari exec Dan Butkus to lead the company as president and ceo. Dan joined the team in October and has really hit the ground running, launching an aggressive business acceleration … Continue reading “New Santo Spirits Chief has Big Plans for the Celeb-Backed Company”

Dear Client:   In 2022, total wine and spirits depletions were collectively down nearly 3% compared to 2021, according to recent SipSource data, which aggregates depletion data from wholesalers across on- and off-premise accounts.  “This is by far the worst performance since we have been reporting on these categories via SipSource,” says SipSource analyst Dale … Continue reading “2022 W&S Depletions in the Red, But Longer Term Trends Look Better”

Dear Client:   Campari Group finished 2022 strong, with global net sales up 16.4% on an organic basis, driven by “robust brand momentum” and bolstered by price increases, per release. Global net sales normalized a bit in the fourth quarter, up about 10% on an organic basis, which also benefited from pricing, but faced “expected … Continue reading “Key Brands and Pricing Strategy Drives Campari’s Double-Digit Growth in F22”

Dear Client:   About 15 million visitors make trips to distilleries in the US and Europe annually, according to experiential marketing software company AnyRoad. “And what we see is that this is expanding every year,” said AnyRoad co-founder Jonathan Yaffe during a presentation at the recent American Craft Spirits Association annual conference.   Indeed, the Kentucky … Continue reading “A Few Key Insights into Distillery Tourism”

Dear Client:   Grupo Cuervo ended its fiscal year with global volumes up 7.4%, driven by volume increases in Mexico and ‘rest of world’, but weighed down by a 2.5% decrease in the US and Canada, per release. Global net sales were up 16%, driven by premiumization and volume growth.  “Underlying demand for our brands … Continue reading “Premiumization Buoys Proximo’s FY 2022 Results in Face of Volume Slowdown”

Dear Client:   Pernod Ricard kept the momentum going in Q2, reporting organic net sales growth of 12% globally in the first half of the fiscal year, with volumes up 3%.  On today’s early-morning earnings call, chief Alex Ricard emphasized that the company’s growth is broad-based across regions and categories. Sales growth is “really broad … Continue reading “Pernod Up Double Digits in H1 Thanks to Broad-Based and Diversified Growth”

Dear Client:   Treasury Wine Estates reported a global net sales revenue increase of 1.4% for the first half of the fiscal year.  “This performance was driven by three key factors: growth in our luxury portfolio, the successful implementation of price increases across several key brands and cost savings from our global supply chain optimization … Continue reading “Lackluster Premium Growth Weighs Down Treasury Americas’ H1 Results”

Dear Client:   The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The group marked the milestone this past weekend at their annual convention in Portland, OR, with new data from the Craft Spirits Data Project, a look at the group’s strategic plan, and even a flash mob. CRAFT PRODUCERS LESS … Continue reading “US Craft Spirits Producers Less Reliant on Whiskey Category”

Dear Client:   The Distilled Spirit Council’s recent annual economic briefing laid out some key legislative priorities for 2023 in addition to divulging more information on spirit-based RTDs and the economic impact of distillery tourism.  SPIRITS-BASED RTDS GROWING SHARE OF RTD PIE. DISCUS named spirits-based RTDs as one of the main growth drivers to the … Continue reading “DISCUS Shares Legislative Priorities for 2023 + Other Industry Updates”

Dear Client:  Vintage Wine Estates was founded more than 20 years ago by Pat Roney, and has since grown to roughly 2.5 million cases across more than 30 brands. The company went public just two years ago through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company at a market valuation of $690 million [see WSD … Continue reading “How Vintage Wine Estates Plans to Simplify and Deleverage its Business”

Dear Client:   In 2022, the US spirits industry grew 5.1% in supplier revenues to $37.6 billion and was up 4.8% in volume to 305 million 9L cases, according to the Distilled Spirits Council’s annual economic briefing this morning. That growth increased spirits’ share of total bev alc supplier revenues to 42.1%, surpassing beer for … Continue reading “2022 US Spirits Revenue Market Share Surpasses Beer for the First Time”

Dear Client:   Vintage Wine Estates announced today that founder Pat Roney will step down as ceo and transition to executive chairman of the board of directors. VWE is now on the hunt for a new chief. In the meantime, Jon Moramarco has been appointed the interim ceo.  Paul Walsh, lead independent director, said that … Continue reading “Pat Roney Stepping Down as Vintage Wine Estates CEO”

Dear Client:   Through a mix of misfortune and serendipity, it seems the US winegrape market has finally corrected itself after several years of oversupply concerns. Several panelists at the recent Unified Wine & Grape Symposium gave some insight into current market dynamics and what is weighing on their minds heading into 2023.  WHAT’S KEEPING … Continue reading “US Wine Grape Supply Finds Balance, For Now”