Shanken's Impact Newsletter June 1-15, 2017

PROPELLED BY A NEW GENERATION OF highly aspirational consumers who are in-creasingly finding reasons to celebrate ev-eryday life rather than wait for the next special occasion, Champagne is on a strong upswing in the U.S. market. Depletions have accelerated each of the past two years, advancing by 5% in 2016 to surpass 1.4 million cases, according to Impact Data- of value expansion slowed slightly, to 5%, and Champagne shipments’ per-case value dipped about 1%—but that marginal cor-rection followed a breakout 2015 during which value had surged by 28%. Given the sterling results of recent years, it comes as little surprise that Champagne marketers interviewed by Impact are al-most universally bullish on the category’s future prospects. “Whether it’s with Pro-secco or another sparkler, younger consum-ers are starting to enjoy sparkling wines…

FLAVORED WHISK(E)Y, WHICH BEGAN AS AN UNLIKELY TREND WHEN IT STARTED TO catch fire a decade ago, has now emerged as a nearly 10-million-case category in the U.S. spirits market, larger than both Scotch and gin. While flavored whisk(e)y decelerated sig-nificantly last year—following a robust 2015 performance marked by the breakout of Crown Royal Regal Apple—the category continued its upward expansion, posting a rise of 7%. It therefore remains a key growth opportunity for major players and smaller com-petitors alike, all of whom are vying to discover the next flavor profile that will take flight with consumers. Dovetailing with the ongoing brown spirits trend, flavored variants from top Canadian and American whisk(e)y brands like Crown Royal, Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam have pro-vided an approachable entrée for newer whisk(e)y audiences…

CHAMPAGNE SALES ARE OFTEN SEEN AS A LEADING indicator for the drinks business. If that’s truly the case, the indus-try appears in line for some solid progress looking ahead. While global Champagne sales took a step back last year, the U.S. cat-egory continued on its strong upward trajectory, rising about 5% by both volume and value, and leading marketers see further gains on the horizon. Taking the medium-term view, the value of Champagne ship-ments to the U.S. has expanded by two-thirds in just the past six years. While a number of brands contributed to that performance, none have been more dynamic than Moët Hennessy’s Veuve Clicquot—now the market leader—and Moët & Chandon. Together, those two brands have grown by more than 20% over the past three years, and are poised…

FLUSH WITH CASH FROM ITS BURGEONING BEER BUSINESS, Constellation Brands has become a serial acquirer within the drinks industry, splashing out roughly $2 billion over the past two years to purchase craft brewer Ballast Point ($1b), wine brands Meiomi ($315m) and The Prisoner ($285m), a num-ber of Washington wine labels from Charles Smith Wines ($120m) and Utah’s High West Distillery ($160m), as well as a minority stake in Bardstown Bourbon Co. But at press time, the upstate New York-based behemoth was eyeing up its biggest takeover play yet. In mid-May, Constellation reportedly made an offer to ac-quire 10th-ranked global spirits player Brown-Forman, whose prowess in the fast-growing American whiskey category has few rivals. While Brown-Forman rebuffed Constellation’s initial offer, insisting it’s not for sale, the news set the drinks industry…

EXCELSIOR WINES, THE U.S. JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN CONCHA Y TORO AND BANFI VINTNERS, IS SHAKING UP ITS DIS-tributor profile in the western U.S. Effective June 1, Excelsior transitioned from Southern Glazer’s to Young’s Market Co. in seven states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Excelsior, formed in 2011 and helmed by president Marc Goodrich, includes Concha y Toro’s South American lineup—including Don Melchor, Casillero del Diablo, Frontera and Trivento—as well as Little Black Dress wines from California. The company says several new third-party brands are expected to join the fold this fall. According to Impact Databank, Concha y Toro’s U.S. volume was roughly flat last year at 2.7 million cases.…

BACARDI HAS NAMED DJ AND PRO-ducer Jillionaire, of the group Major Lazer, as “Minister of Rum”—a hybrid of a brand ambassador, influencer and creative and cultural strategist—and is prepping the launch of an associated Bacardi Major Lazer rum. The new en-try will arrive nationwide in mid-June at around $20 a 750-ml. A limited in-ternational rollout is planned for Sep-tember. Major Lazer’s signature rum blends younger, light rums and richer, dark rums, aged three to four years. Jil-lionaire says he will lead multiplatform activations at Bacardi-hosted events and Major Lazer shows, as well as his own “Chicken & Beer” party tour. “For me, rum is closely associated with good feelings and friends and family,” says Jillionaire, who hails from Trini-dad. “We worked with the master dis-tiller on the product itself. I’m…