Innholdsfortegnelse for October 1, 2021 i Shanken's Impact Newsletter

DIAGEO HAS ANNOUNCED THE ACQUISITION OF A MINORITY STAKE IN JAPAN’S Komasa Kanosuke Distillery for an undisclosed sum. The investment was made through Diageo-backed Distill Ventures, and will allow the distillery to expand production, new product development, and its international sales and marketing teams. Based in Kagoshima, the distillery is known for its Kanosuke whisky brand. It debuted its first single malt whisky (a three-year-old) in June, to be followed by further limited cask-strength releases ahead of the launch of its flagship single malt brand, slated for next year. So far, distribution has been limited to Japan, but Diageo is eyeing international expansion in the coming years. According to Diageo, “the investment agreement envisages a transition to a 50:50 joint-venture ownership structure with Diageo subject to future performance.” Komasa Kanosuke…

THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY IS LAUNCHING BEVY LONG DRINK, INSPIRED BY the national cocktail of Finland. Invented for guests at the 1952 Summer Olym-pics in Helsinki, a traditional Long Drink consists of gin, grapefruit soda, and tonic. Boston Beer’s canned version will launch with two flavors: Sparkling Citrus Refresher and Sparkling Berry Refresher, both at 5.8% abv and made with a malt base containing juniper berries instead of spirits. Bevy Long Drink will launch in November in 6- and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans as well as single 24-ounce cans. Meanwhile, Boston Beer offered an update on the ongoing deceleration of hard seltzer, noting that some industry estimates now show that full-year 2021 volume for hard seltzer retail sales will have over 100 million fewer cases than the volumes estimated in…

INDUSTRY VETERANS JIM CLERKIN AND JEFF MENASHE ARE launching a new drinks company, Demeter & Co., focused on exploiting untapped growth opportunities across a number of fast-rising categories. Demeter & Co. plans to open a headquarters at Manhattan’s World Trade Center #3 this fall, and is busy assembling a portfolio that will be curated to include “culturally rele-vant” offerings from categories such as wine, spirits, Champagne, RTDs, low- and no-alcohol products, and cannabis-infused drinks. Clerkin is among the most accomplished executives in the industry, having served as CEO of the Americas for both Moët Hennessy and Jim Beam. Menashe’s Demeter Advisory Group is a leading California-based investment bank for the drinks industry, which has facilitated numerous high-profile transactions over the years, including Constellation’s purchase of High West and Justin Vineyards’…

•PERNOD RICARD HAS PARTNERED with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on its new Agriculture and Land Health Initiative. Coinciding with the IUCN World Conservation Congress recently taking place in Marseille, Pernod Ricard is the first corporate partner of the initiative, which is working on a shared vision for sustainable agriculture involving governments, NGOs, businesses, land management experts, and scientists. The partnership builds on other environmental initiatives from Pernod, including its 2030 Sustain-ability and Responsibility roadmap. •ANHEUSER-BUSCH HAS EXTENDED Natural Light into the spirits category with Natural Light Vodka, a new line of lemonade-flavored spirits. The line of 30% abv vodkas is kicking off with three flavors—traditional lemonade, strawberry lemonade, and black cherry lemonade—and is available in both 750-and 50-ml. bottles. To pro-mote the launch, Anheuser-Busch is offering…

PERNOD RICARD HAS TAKEN A MI-nority stake in Sovereign Brands, the company behind the highly successful French sparkling wine brand Luc Belaire. No financial details or the exact stake in Sovereign were disclosed. The deal will allow Sovereign to retain day-to-day independence and the company will maintain its current management and it’s distribution network. The companies describe the deal as the first step in a long term partnership that may lead to co-developed commercial and industrial projects. “Sov-ereign Brands has demonstrated exceptional innovation and marketing skills. We are thrilled to partner with Brett and Brian Berish, two of the most innovative entrepreneurs of our industry,” said Alexandre Ricard, CEO of Pernod Ricard. Sovereign flagship Luc Belaire, a portfolio of French sparkling wines, has seen tremendous growth over the last few…

BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKIES HAVE FACED HEADWINDS IN the U.S. for decades, with consumer interest shifting to other spirits, including the higher-priced single malt segment. The world’s largest spirits companies continue to find success with their blends, but as consumers shift more to single malt Scotch and American and Irish whiskies they are competing for share in an uncertain market. After losing about 2 million cases since 2000, blended Scotch in the U.S. has been relatively stable in the last de-cade, with the top 10 brands hovering around 4.7 million cases combined. The largest change over the last decade is the fall of budget priced blended Scotch and a shift toward more premium offerings. Brands outside the top 10 have ceded 800,000 cases since 2010. Last year was an unusual year…

BREAKTHRU BEVERAGE has appointed Tom Bené as its new president and CEO, effective October 4. He succeeds Greg Baird, who will serve as an advi-sor to Bené through the end of the year, assisting in the transition. Bené joins Breakthru from the National Restaurant Association, where he served as president and CEO. In addition to his experience at the NRA, Bené has also led Sysco Corporation and PepsiCo’s foodservice business. As Breakthru’s new CEO, Bené will pick up where Baird is leaving off and continue to drive the company toward greater sales and market share, and also keep the focus on technology and innovation. “We are thrilled to welcome Tom to Breakthru Beverage as our next president and CEO. Tom has a demonstrated history of leading organizations through periods of…

FORMERLY ONE OF THE BEST-PERFORMING SEGMENTS of the U.S. spirits market, the single malt Scotch category was buffeted by the twin challenges of Covid and tariffs last year, resulting in the category’s first U.S. decline in memory, a 5.5% dip to 1.74 million cases, according to Impact Databank. This year, with the broad reopening of the on-premise and tariff relief riding to the rescue, the category is in recovery. Indeed, single malt Scotch has been quietly outperforming most other spirits so far this year, especially in the off-premise. For the 26-week period ending July 17 in Nielsen channels, single malt dollar sales registered a 15% increase—versus 6% for blended Scotch—faster than any other major spirits category, other than pre-packaged cocktails (+47%). The only other segments to outperform single malt Scotch…

DISARONNO INTERNATIONAL HAS launched a number of new offerings over the past year to strong initial response. “2020 was our year for innovation, after not having any innovation in our portfolio, in the case of the brand Disaronno, for 500 years,” Ray Stoughton, executive vice president and general manager of Disaronno International, told Impact. Disaronno’s core amaretto increased 1.1% to 336,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank. At the forefront of this innovation push is Disaronno Velvet ($30 a 750-ml.), a cream offshoot of the almond liqueur and the first line extension in the history of the brand, which launched in April 2020. Unable to pursue many of the typical brand activations that accompany a new product launch due to Covid restrictions, the company pushed forward…

STOLI GROUP HAS NAMED NIK KEANE as ultra-premium portfolio leader, over-seeing the company’s upscale brands including Kentucky Owl Bourbon, Bayou Rum, and Tulchan Gin. Keane was previously global brand director for Captain Morgan at Diageo. Stoli has also appointed Tim Szonyi as global innovations leader. A 20-year drinks industry veteran, Szonyi has spent time with Diageo and Australia’s Tribe Breweries, as well as Mars and Levi Strauss.•Breakthru Beverage appointed Tom Parker as vice president, commercial excellence for the United Division, which is dedicated to Diageo and Moët Hennessy brands. Previously director of trade development, the company veteran will lead a newly formed team within the United Division aimed at enhancing capabilities in key areas such as digital marketing/e-retail, net revenue management, supply chain planning, and purchasing. •Terlato Wines has named…