Dear Client: Cuervo kicked off its fiscal year with solid improvement in the US & Canada, but that growth was offset by declines in Mexico and the rest of the world. Cuervo’s total volumes were down 4.4% and net sales were down 6.5% for the first quarter ended March 31. A NEW CFO. Before we … Continue reading “Tequila, RTDs Drive Improvement for Cuervo’s Q1 US Results”
Dear Client: State legislatures have been pretty busy so far this year, introducing a range of alcohol bills from cocktails to-go and happy hour to lowering taxes on spirits RTDS and more. We’ll take today’s issue to detail the latest legislative efforts. WINE IN GROCERY EFFORTS RENEWED. There have been renewed efforts this year in … Continue reading “The Latest Movement on Bev Alc Bills in State Legislatures”
Dear Client: It’s tough running a public company. It’s especially difficult running a public wine company. Despite the logistical obstacles to obtain quarterly gains as a wine producer, a handful of companies have dared to take the leap, including The Duckhorn Portfolio and Vintage Wine Estates. A smaller wine player, Fresh Vine Wine (FVW), also … Continue reading “Taking a Close Look at Fresh Vine Wine Ahead of Potential Merger”
Dear Client: Beam Suntory reported a global net sales increase of 7% in 2023. “We are pleased with the results we delivered last year as our portfolio of brands— rooted in quality and craftsmanship— and our geographic diversity continued to benefit our business,” says Beam Suntory chief Greg Hughes. “While we faced some challenges as … Continue reading “Beam Suntory’s Growth Outside North America Offsets US Slowdown in ’23”
Dear Client: Treasury Wine Estates reported global net sales revenue decline of 2.3% for the first half of fiscal 2024, reflecting the premium portfolio declines in Treasury Americas and the commercial portfolio declines within Treasury Premium Brands. By division: Results were “broadly in line with expectations,” said ceo Tim Ford on yesterday evening’s earnings call. … Continue reading “TWE Brass Share Plans to Parse Out Premium Brands”
Dear Client: It doesn’t seem like January was too dry this year, with monthly scan data showing growth across wine and spirits. Indeed, for the four weeks ended January 27, spirits sales were up 5.6% and volumes were up 6.3% in NielsenIQ-measured off-premise channels. And it wasn’t just tequila and prepared cocktails that posted growth. … Continue reading “Wine & Spirits Show Decent Start to the Year in Scans”
Dear Client: The wine industry has notoriously struggled in recent decades to grow its consumer base. To help wine growers and sellers better address this problem, the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium hosted a panel of representatives to share their expertise on finding new revenue streams, business models and consumers while maintaining their core business. … Continue reading “How to Diversify Within the Wine Industry”
Dear Client: In recent years delivery app DoorDash has been expanding its availability and selection of bev alc on the platform. Your editor recently chatted with DoorDash vp of new verticals Fuad Hannon to discuss their approach to the growing bev alc segment and further expansion plans. “We are working to become a multi-category company, … Continue reading “A Look at DoorDash’s Bev Alc Growth Trajectory”
Dear Client: The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) gathered a panel of OG wholesalers at the recent Access Live conference for a “power hour” to discuss how the industry has changed and how the role of the wholesaler has changed along with it. The panelists were: Bobby Harmelin, evp, Allied Beverage Group; Stan … Continue reading ““OG” Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Share Insight on Changing Industry”
Dear Client: This week the Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) released its seventh report since 2009 sizing up the economic and fiscal impacts of the distilling industry across the Bluegrass State. The first KDA report from 2009, which examined 2008 metrics, identified 19 distilling establishments across eight counties in the Commonwealth, supporting about 3,000 jobs. As … Continue reading “The Kentucky Distilling Industry by the Numbers”
Dear Client: In 2023, US spirits industry supplier revenues remained flat (up just 0.2%) at $37.7 billion and volumes were up 1.2% to nearly 309 million 9L cases, according to the Distilled Spirits Council’s annual economic briefing this morning. You may recall, 2022 marked the first time that spirits’ share of total bev alc supplier … Continue reading “Spirits “Showed a lot of Resilience” in ’23, Maintaining Market Share Lead”
Sovos ShipCompliant released its annual direct-to-consumer wine shipping last week, finding yet another year of DTC wine shipment declines in 2023, with volumes down 6.5% and value flat at +0.1% [see WSD 01-31-2024]. Today, we’ll continue digging into that report, taking a look at some regional trends, winery size and price increase trends, as well … Continue reading “Price Increases Drive Volume Declines Across DTC Wine Channel”
Dear Client: Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits’ Josh Cellars flooded social news feeds recently, following a post on X (formerly Twitter) that implied Josh is a more sophisticated and grown-up option for young wine drinkers. The memes have been pouring in and that’s led to an increase in brand engagement online, with a nearly 80% … Continue reading “Josh Now the Largest Table Wine Brand in the US, on Path to Reach 10M Cases”
Dear Client: Direct-to-consumer shipping continues to be a hotly-debated topic, particularly as it relates to spirits. Vermont is the latest state to take a closer look at DTC shipping to its residents. The Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL) recently published findings from a Direct-to-Consumer Shipping Pilot Compliance Program, funded by NABCA, that “revealed … Continue reading “Vermont Finds DTC Shipping to the State “Significantly Under-Regulated””
Dear Client: This week more than 2,600 industry members descended upon Las Vegas for the annual Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association Access Live conference – your editor among them. There’s a lot to unpack from the three-day event, and today we’ll kick off our coverage with major themes and highlights. WHAT’S TOP OF MIND FOR … Continue reading “What’s Top of Mind at WSWA”
Dear Client: The direct-to-consumer wine shipping channel was down for the second consecutive year in 2023, with volumes down 6.5% and flattish sales, at +0.1%. That amounts to about 500,000 less cases shipped in 2023, per Sovos ShipCompliant’s annual DTC report. The report is a collaboration between Sovos and WineBusiness Analytics, breaking down DTC shipment … Continue reading “DTC Wine Shipment Volumes Down for Second Consecutive Year”
