Shanken's Impact Newsletter January 1-15, 2017

 THE U.S. SPIRITS MARKET’S TOP 25 BRANDS once again achieved impressive growth in 2016, even as the two biggest sellers lost ground. The top 25 achieved aggregate growth of 4.9% to 98 million cases, accord-ing to Impact Databank estimates. That advance followed a five-year period in which the top 25 enjoyed average annual growth of 4.7%. Those impressive gains are occurring even though the two largest players aren’t keeping pace with the market’s expansion. In fact, it appears that Smirnoff and Ba-cardi—ranked number-one and number- two by volume, respectively—both endured slight declines in 2016, even as the vast majority of the top 25 were on the rise. In all, 19 brands posted growth, while three were in decline and another three were es-sentially flat. Four top-25 brands enjoyed double-digit…

Red Blends Highlight New Product Blitz  FIVE YEARS AGO, BRANDS LIKE THE NAKED GRAPE, ROSCATO AND THE DREAMING TREE didn’t exist or were barely a blip on the radar screen. Now, they’re among the U.S. market’s most promising wine brands, and their aggregate sales are estimated at nearly 3 million nine-liter cases for 2016. Which new products in today’s market will rise to become the next Naked Grape, Roscato or Dreaming Tree? Chances are good that they’ll be red blends, according to the newly-released Shanken’s Impact Databank Review & Forecast’s New Products: Wine Report (2017 Edition). Red (non-varietal) blends accounted for over 100 new products out of roughly 400 still wine brands introduced in 2015 and 2016, even though red blends account for less than 8% of the total U.S.…

THE U.S. SPIRITS MARKET ACHIEVED SOLID GROWTH in 2016, according to Impact Databank, with the market’s top 25 brands leading the way. The top 25 advanced by nearly 5% last year, propelled by the thriving flavored whisk(e)y category and the impres-sive gains of several standout performers. Top whisk(e)y brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Crown Royal, Jim Beam and Evan Williams all enjoyed marked progress in 2016, due largely to their emphasis on innovation. All have leveraged the whisk(e)y boom by extending their franchises with flavor offerings that have driven much of their recent growth. Their success has inspired other players to follow suit. For instance, E&J brandy had been struggling in recent years, as competi-tors stole share. However, after E.&J. Dis-tillers unveiled flavor extensions on the brand, it experienced its…

 THE TAUB FAMILY, WHICH OWNS importer Palm Bay International, agreed to acquire Pasternak Wine Imports from Bordeaux’s DBR Lafite for an undisclosed sum last month. The Pasternak portfolio will be merged into the Taubs’ Esprit du Vin (EDV) company, which is separate from its Palm Bay International organization. The deal will more than double EDV’s size, with Pasternak’s 450,000 cases now added to bring EDV’s total volume to 760,000 cases. Impact deputy managing editor Daniel Marsteller recently spoke with Marc Taub, president and CEO of both EDV and Palm Bay, about the Pasternak deal and the growth prospects for the new EDV. IMPACT: Which wines from Pasternak are most promising? Taub: France in general is very exciting right now, and that will benefit the Do-maines Barons de Rothschild (DBR) Bordeaux…

EDRINGTON AMERICAS HAS FORMED a strategic partnership with Partida Te-quila. Under its terms, Edrington Amer-icas assumes all sales, marketing and distribution of the upscale Partida, which includes Blanco ($40-$50), Re-posado ($50) and Añejo ($55) varieties, as well as a high-end Elegante expres-sion ($350). Impact Databank esti-mates Partida at around 30,000 cases in the U.S., growing at 20% annually. For Edrington—whose portfolio also in-cludes Scotch whisky brands The Ma-callan, Highland Park and The Famous Grouse as well as Brugal rum and Snow Leopard vodka—the Partida deal offers exposure to the burgeoning luxury Te-quila segment (above $40 a bottle), which has grown by 40% over the past five years, according to Impact Data-bank. Gary Shansby, Partida’s founder and chairman, said that both his com-pany and Edrington are committed to “brand-building for the…

SUNTORY HOLDINGS PRESIDENT TAKESHI NIINAMI SAYS THE COMPANY IS NOT planning an initial public offering of Beam Suntory, according to Reuters. The re-port claims Niinami said at a recent gathering of corporate executives in Tokyo that the conglomerate is “not considering any listing in the U.S.,” refuting an ear-lier report by Japan’s The Mainichi Daily that Suntory had been exploring the pos-sibility of listing Beam Suntory on the New York Stock Exchange. This past sum-mer, the Financial Times reported that tensions were high between Suntory executives in Japan and the Beam Suntory management team due to disagreements over the IPO issue. However, Beam Suntory chairman and CEO Matt Shattock said in November that the reports of discord were overblown.…