Mark Cornell, president and chief of Moet Hennessy USA, has promoted Brad Gietter to vp of the western region, covering the states of California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii. Tim Norris has also been promoted to vp of the central region and will assume responsibility for the states of Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, … Continue reading “PROMOTIONS AT MOET HENNESSY”

We will take a closer look at Beam Global’s first quarter conference call tomorrow, where chief Norm Wesley reportedly said that the company has a “natural interest” in Absolut. Norm pointed out that Beam Global and V&S’s Maxxium j-v has “benefited both partners, and our close relationship has helped further build our respective brands.””We’ve said … Continue reading “BEAM GLOBAL PRONOUNCES “NATURAL INTEREST” IN ABSOLUT”

Diageo held its annual investor conference today in which the company gives a not-so-brief overview of its inner workings and plans. As cfo Nick Rose put it, “Our aim is quite simple, that you will learn a bit more about Diageo and particularly the opportunities that we see for further growth.”The five success-driving themes that … Continue reading “DIAGEO INVESTOR CONFERENCE: DISTRIBUTOR CHANGES AND UPSCALE AIMS”

LVMH posted its first quarter results today in which its wine and spirits sector saw organic revenue growth of 15%. The champagne division, where volumes increased by 8%, had a good start to the year with rosé champagnes making “remarkable progress” in the US, according to the company. Hennessy cognac showed strong momentum with volumes … Continue reading “LVMH REVENUE UP 15%”

The WTO announced it will establish a dispute settlement panel to decide whether India’s excise tariffs (which can go has high as 550%) on alcohol imports are illegal. The panel is in response to a request from the EU that was also supported by the US. A ruling from the panel is expected to be … Continue reading “WTO OPENS DISPUTE WITH INDIA”

Yesterday we reported that Illinois bill (HB 429) is currently feeling some heat from the Specialty Wine Retailers Association in context to out-of-state retailers and their shipping rights. The bill (announced Monday) provides that in-state and out-of-state wineries can ship 12 cases a year directly to an individual and restaurant, while small wineries (producing less … Continue reading “INTERPRETING GRANHOLM: RETAILERS OR WINERIES”

Last week WSD covered reports by the Daily Iowan of an out-of-state retailer shipping wine directly to an Iowa college student in violation of that state’s law, which prohibits direct-to-consumers sales by out-of-state retailers. In response to these reports, Craig Wolf of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) issued a statement condemning the … Continue reading “SPECIALTY RETAILERS FIRE BACK AT THE WSWA”

The spirits industry had a small victory today when Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe signed a law that will allow liquor stores to hold spirits tastings for consumers. With the signing of House Bill 2397, Arkansas became the 15th state since 2000 to allow or expand its spirits tastings on or off-premise. You are unauthorized to … Continue reading “ARKANSAS TO ALLOW SPIRITED TASTING”

Former senior vp of HR for Constellation Wines, Chester Hutchinson, has joined the Brunton Vineyards advisory board and will oversee executive hiring. In addition to Constellation, Chester also served at Diageo Chateau & Estate and currently co-owns Human Resource Business Partners. You are unauthorized to view this page. Username Password Remember Me     Forgot … Continue reading “BRUNTON NABS FORMER CONSTELLATION EXEC”

Sauza Mexico., an operating company of Beam Global has appointed Hector Hernandez to replace Andy Consuegra as managing director, the company’s top commercial position in Mexico, effective May 2. Hernandez will report directly to Jim Clerkin, president of Beam Global North America. According to a statement from the company, Consuegra stepped down for personal reasons … Continue reading “BEAM GLOBAL WELCOMES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENT”

The Southern California grocery industry is once again bracing for the possibility of widespread union strikes which debilitated the industry back in 2003. The three-year contract covering 65,000 workers at Albertson’s, Ralph’s, and Von’s will expire April 9. Already Albertson’s union employees have authorized a strike. You are unauthorized to view this page. Username Password … Continue reading “SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BRACING FOR GROCERY STRIKE”

Much in the American tradition of shortening everything, Delicato Family Vineyards has switched its name to three simple initials: DFV Wines. It’s Custom Resource Group and vineyard holdings will, however, retain the Delicato Family Vineyards name.DFV also redesigned its logo to feature three hills representing its family heritage, vineyards and wines.”We recognize that the future … Continue reading “DELICATO MODERNIZES ITS IMAGE”

Remember that warehouse fire we reported on last week? After Mark Anderson allegedly set fire to his wine storage unit in 2005 that contained 6 million bottles of wine and incurred a whopping $250 million in losses, he plead not guilty to charges on Monday.Here’s a quick refresher. Authorities say Mark set the fire to … Continue reading “ACCUSED ARSONIST PLEADS “NOT GUILTY””

Yesterday, the EU asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to form a dispute settlement panel to hash out the tax issues in India. Presently, the Indian government imposes a basic customs duty of 150% on imported spirits and 100% on imported wines. Along with the additional duties, the levies range between 177% and 540%.Last month, … Continue reading “EU CALLS IN THE WTO”

After NABCA (control states) spirits volumes soared in January to 4.12% from the previous year, February volumes were up only 1.6%, according to Melissa Earlam of UBS based on data from Information Resource (IRI). Last year, spirits grew 4% overall, leaving 2.8% YTD growth at a considerable disadvantage. Nevertheless, Melissa “does note a relatively tough … Continue reading “SPIRITS VOLUMES FALL FROM JANUARY”