Dear Client: Francis Creighton officially took on the role of president and ceo at Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) in November, following Michelle Korsmo’s departure last year [see WSD 09-07-2022]. Your editor recently chatted with Francis to discuss how he’s settling into his new role and what his top priorities/goals are for … Continue reading “A Chat with the New WSWA Chief”
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”
Dear Client: Last week we reported that Campari Group has nearly completed its US whiskey portfolio thanks to recent acquisitions [see WSD 02-02-2023]. And that’s one way they plan to gain traction in the US market. How else are they planning to gain traction in their top market? Campari America managing director for the … Continue reading “Campari is Premiumizing its Portfolio “As Much As We Can””
Dear Client: BDSA’s cannabis analysts recently released their 2023 US cannabis market predictions and dove a little deeper on a follow-up webinar last week, providing a recap of an “eventful” 2022 which saw new legal markets open and “macroeconomic conditions presenting new challenges to businesses across the industry,” per report. MAJORITY OF AMERICANS HAVE … Continue reading “2023 May Mark a “Turning Point” for the Cannabis Industry”
Dear Client: Today, Bacardi and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter jointly announced they’ve struck a long-term agreement, renewing their partnership with D’Usse Cognac. As part of the agreement, Bacardi has acquired a majority interest in the brand. Bacardi and Jay-Z teamed up in 2012 to launch D’Usse. The brand has bucked wider Cognac trends, up around … Continue reading “Bacardi Acquires Majority Stake in D’Usse Cognac, Ending Legal Feud with Jay-Z”
Dear Client: Campari Group was pretty active on the M&A front in 2022, acquiring a minority stake in Howler Head banana-flavored bourbon and Catalyst Spirits as well as a majority stake in Wilderness Trail Distillery. At the recent WSD Summit, Campari America managing director for the US and Canada Ugo Fiorenzo shared more color … Continue reading “Campari’s US Whiskey Portfolio “Near Complete” with Latest Acquisitions”
Dear Client: A group of data experts and representatives from successful wine brands big and small came together at the recent Unified Wine and Grape Symposium to discuss how to reach new demographics, what channels are growing, innovation opportunities, and why people are choosing wine going into 2023. The panel included: William Allen, founder … Continue reading “The Who, Where, What & Why of the Wine Industry”
Dear Client: Wine has struggled to connect with younger cohorts, and the discussion has gone mainstream – you may have seen the recent New York Times article, “The American Wine Industry has an Old People Problem.” “Those younger than 60 are less in love with wine than those older than 60. That means that … Continue reading “SVB: Getting Younger Consumers into the Wine Category”
Dear Client: Last week Sovos ShipCompliant released its annual direct-to-consumer wine shipping report, showing a market correction in 2022, with DTC wine shipments down 10.3% in volume and 1.6% in value [see WSD 01-24-2023]. Today we’ll break down the results further by region, winery size and varietal. BY REGION. In recent years there’s been … Continue reading “Breaking Down DTC Wine Channel Growth (or Lack Thereof) in ’22”
