Gruppo Campari has bought the Canadian whisky producer Forty Creek Distillery (FCD), an independently owned Canadian spirits company.

Gruppo Campari has posted up sales of €1,524 million, +13.7%, (organic growth +1.7%) while the group net profit was down -4.4% to €149.8m for the for the full year ending December 31, 2013.

Wirtz Beverage Group, a distributor of wine, spirits and beer brands, has been named exclusive national broker for Diageo beer, wine, spirits and RTD brands in Canada.

Pernod results

13 February, 2014

Pernod Ricard has reported net sales for the first semester of 2013/14 totalled €4.57 million.

Off Licence News’ Drinks Retailer Awards took place in London’s Dorchester Hotel last night, celebrating success and innovation in the UK sector.

First Drinks Brands and Rémy Cointreau have confirmed that their distribution agreement in the UK will end on March 31.

Rossi D’Asiago has announced that its flagship brand, Antica Sambuca, will now be distributed in Germany by Hardenberg-Wilthen.

Hillebrand buys Satellite

04 December, 2013

JF Hillebrand Group  has announced that it has bought the Satellite Logistics Group, a leading US-based supply chain provider for the beverage industry.

Hillebrand buys Satellite

04 December, 2013

JF Hillebrand Group  has announced that it has bought the Satellite Logistics Group, a leading US-based supply chain provider for the beverage industry.

Diageo has said it will sell several Whyte & Mackay brands, including Jura, to satisfy the Office of Fair Trading.

Banning multi-buy promotions for alcohol failed to reduce the amount purchased, according to a study. 

Altia replaces CEO

25 November, 2013

Altia Plc has released CEO Antti Pankakoski. He has been CEO since 2007. He left last Wednesday, November 21.

SABMiller has announced that in light of a deterioration in the health of chairman Graham Mackay the board has re-appointed deputy chairman John Manser as acting chairman.

The directors of Davide Campari-Milano SpA has announced its consolidated results for the nine months ending 30 September 2013.

Direct sells Virgin Wines

13 November, 2013

Direct Wines has announced that it had sold its Virgin Wines UK business to the management team.

Canada has agreed a free trade deal that will eliminate tariffs on EU spirits and wine.

Hillebrand buys Meerendonk

15 October, 2013

JF Hillebrand Benelux has announced that it is to buy all of  Meerendonk Advanced Logistics’ activities in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Western spirits companies that focus on growing margins to create value have been more successful than those that reduced prices in order to grow volumes, according to a report from Rabobank.

Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) chief executive Miles Beale, has criticised the UK government’s so-called ‘Alcohol Duty Escalator’ which has seen the tax on wine and spirits rise by up to 50%.

Stock Spirits Group has announced its intention to offer shares to institutional investors and float on the London Stock Exchange. It is expected the offer will complete next month. It hopes to raise £52 million.

Pernod Ricard CEO Pierre Pringuet was in Vietnam yesterday to sign a multi-partite agreement extending the International Center for Alcohol Policies’ (ICAP) pilot programme in its fight against drunk driving.

Mast-Jägermeister has begun the transition to take UK distribution in-house after announcing plans to establish its own London subsidiary. 

Cellar trends has said the UK's cocktail boom is “seriously underestimated”, even by on-trade data agency CGA Strategy.

ProWein fully booked

09 September, 2013

The organiser of ProWein has announced that ProWein 2014 is already fully booked, six months before the show.

Camus Cognac and Synergy Group have linked up to launch Beluga vodka in China.

A long, hot summer did nothing to boost the UK on-trade’s fortunes, the sector's volume sales having shrunk 6% in the last 12 weeks, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association.

The Irish prime minister or Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, yesterday (September 4) officially opened Irish Distillers’ newly expanded Midleton distillery in Cork.

Recoveries in the much-maligned markets of France and Spain helped to off-set declines in Asia as global sales of Scotch grew 11% by value and 9% by volume for the first half of 2013.

Label 5, which ranked number nine in the world’s best selling Scotch whisky brands last year, has unveiled a new look bottle for its Classic Black expression.

Aiming to make its mark on the global rum scene, the island of Mauritius held its first rum festival at the end of August.

Pernod Ricard grew sales by 4% during 2012/2013, thanks to the US and China offsetting a western European malaise.

The organiser of the international wine summit, Wine Vision, has announced the dates and line-up of speakers for its event.

The UK wine event London 2013 has been postponed until March 2014 after “consultation” with the trade.

New Zealand Winegrowers says wine drinkers globally are continuing to buy New Zealand wines.

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has reported a net profit after tax of AUS$42.3 million for the full year. Earnings before interes and tax (EBITs) stood at $209.2m. Net sales revenue was up 1.9%.

SABMiller’s Ugandan subsidiary, Nile Breweries Limited (NBL), has opened its new brewery in Mbarara, western Uganda.

Diageo and the Irish Whiskey Company (IWC) have announced that they have entered into an agreement in principal concerning the future ownership of the Great Northern Brewery site, Dundalk. 

The Wiener Gemischte Satz region has become a DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus).

National Calvados Week

20 August, 2013

National Calvados Week takes place in the UK between October 14 and 20.

The SPI Group has appointed Chase International Inc. as its new exclusive distributor of Stolichnaya vodka and elit by Stolichnaya, in the US duty free market.

United Spirits board of directors has appointed former Diageo CEO, Paul Walsh, as an additional director of the company with immediate effect.

Sparkling wine is projected to see the most growth in Australia's wine market, according to Canadean. 

Northern Irish cider producer Armagh Cider has secured investment to develop business in new markets including Europe and the US. 

Diageo has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first accelerator programme, set up to encourage, nurture and mentor new and growing spirits brands.

The first Mauritius Rum Festival will take place later this month with the aim of promoting the Mauritian rum industry globally.

Gruppo Campari has posted its half term results - sales of €698.6 million. 13% up but group net profit is down 26.1% to €57.6m.

China has agreed to discuss dropping its EU wine tax, a move that would bring to an end a trade dispute that threatened European wine exports.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has announced that latest figures show that worldwide student numbers for the academic year 2012/13, just finished, stand at an all-time high of 48,434, up 12% on the previous year.

AB Inbev has announced that the first half of 2013 has seen its revenue grow 2.7%, despite volumes falling by 2.6% (compared with H1 2012).

Fair Trade Agreements between the EU and Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama will come into force today, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

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