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: Diageo recorded a global organic net sales decline of 0.6% while global organic volumes were down 5.2% for the first half of fiscal year 2024. The sales decline was driven in large part by the continued declines in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region amidst inventory disruptions flagged last year. Excluding the … Continue reading “Diageo “Not Satisfied” With Current US Market Share”
Dear Client: “I don’t wanna sugarcoat it– 2023 has been a tough year,” opened longtime industry analyst Danny Brager during the State of the Industry presentation at last week’s Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento. However, he urged attendees to not fall into excessive pessimism or optimism. Instead, the wine industry should take a realist’s … Continue reading “Identifying the Wine Industry’s Pain Points”
Dear Client: Remy Cointreau continued its double-digit decline in Q3 (ended December), with global sales down 23.5% on an organic basis. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, global sales were down 22.7%, and volumes were down 17%. The Americas region recorded “very strong double digit decline” for the nine-month period, with sequential … Continue reading “Remy Down Double Digits in Q3, But Showing Sequential Improvement”
Dear Client: As part of the annual Silicon Valley Bank State of the US Wine Industry Report, evp and founder of the SVB Wine Division Rob McMillan outlines his top predictions for the industry. Overall, he seems pretty optimistic about 2024. Indeed, Rob writes that he expects to see improvement on several fronts in 2024, including: … Continue reading “While Headwinds Persist, SVB Expects Wine to Show Improvement in ’24”
Dear Client: The US craft spirits market is still heavily concentrated, with less than 2% of total craft spirits producers responsible for more than half (54.5%) of cases produced, while 89% of producers are responsible for just 11% of total cases produced, according to the recent Craft Spirits Data Project, which is put together annually … Continue reading “Medium Craft Distillers Show the “Most Positive Signs” for the Category”
Dear Client: Yesterday we published the first part of our trade group CEO roundtable session from the Beer, Wine & Spirits Summit last week, in which the panelists touted the importance of presenting a united front across categories and tiers when it comes to certain issues [see WSD 01-22-2024]. Today we’ll take a look at the … Continue reading “How Trade Groups are Grappling with an Evolving Marketplace”
Dear Client:In the virtual pages of WSD, we often share conflicting views from the industry trade groups that advocate for different categories and tiers. While they have their differences, there are issues that arise that bring the groups together to present a united front. At our Beer, Wine & Spirits Summit in San Diego, CA last … Continue reading “Trade Group CEOs on Banding Together When it Counts”
Dear Client: Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) released its annual State of the Wine Industry report yesterday, and with it, hosted their live panel giving more candid takes on what industry insiders are seeing. Overall, the wine industry is generally in the same position it was last year. 2023 was the third consecutive year of declining … Continue reading “SVB: Wine Industry Needs to Cooperate to Grow Demand”
Dear Client: The US craft spirits market saw normalizing growth in 2022. After double-digit growth in ’21, craft spirits sales were up 5.3% to $7.9 billion and up 6.1% to 14 million 9L cases in 2022, according to the annual Craft Spirits Data Project. That’s an estimated market share of 4.9% in volume and 7.7% … Continue reading “US Craft Spirits Post Growth in ’22 Despite “Challenging Year””
Dear Client:After quite a bit of back and forth in the courts across multiple lawsuits, Diageo and Sean “Diddy” Combs have “agreed to resolve all disputes between them,” per a joint statement released yesterday. HOW WE GOT HERE. Last year Diddy filed a lawsuit against Diageo alleging that the company did not support brands backed by … Continue reading “Diageo v. Diddy Saga Ends; Diageo Now Fully Owns DeLeon Tequila”
Dear Client: Recent data reports have shown a deceleration in growth for premium+ agave products. But Tequila Komos is bucking that trend. Indeed, Komos was one of the only ultra-luxury ($100+) tequilas among the top 5 that has consistently grown year over year throughout 2023, with sales up 28% in 2023 in NielsenIQ-measured channels. Comparatively, … Continue reading “Tequila Komos Leading the Ultra-Luxury Tequila Segment”
Dear Client: With a new year comes new predictions. Your editors peered into our crystal ball to see what to expect for the year ahead.In no particular order, here are our industry predictions for 2024. AMERICAN SINGLE MALT DESIGNATION. The wheels of government turn slow, and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is … Continue reading “What’s in Store for ’24”
Dear Client: In 2023, RTDs kept the overall spirits category afloat. With spirits RTDs, total off-premise spirits grew 2.7% in value and 5% in volume, according to NielsenIQ data. Excluding RTDs, spirits sales were flat and volumes were down 2.2%. Our colleagues at sister publication Beer Business Daily recently tapped Dave Williams, president of Bump … Continue reading “The Current Spirits RTD Landscape: Top Brands and Rising Stars”
Dear Client: This week the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) released the results of a survey the organization conducted in partnership with Morning Consult taking a look at alcohol shipping practices as well as consumer sentiment and direct-to-consumer purchasing behaviors. The survey contacted over 2,200 US adults during a three-day period in August … Continue reading “WSWA Survey Points to DTC Shipping Concerns”
Dear Client: In 2023, total bev alc off-premise sales grew 1.1% to $89.8 billion, according NielsenIQ’s 2023 Year in Review report. There were “significant trends” last year that impacted bev alc off-premise performance, including changes in shopper behaviors, the increasing popularity of spirits-based RTDs and non-alc options, the emergence of LDA gen Zers, and premiumization. … Continue reading “NIQ: Trends that Shaped 2023 Off-Premise Performance”
