Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Market Watch

In the drinks business, the central story of recent years has been innovation. The pace of new product rollouts has been relentless, and continues at a dizzying rate. Lately, companies have been pushing the innovation envelope further outward, reinventing traditional concepts of packaging, consumption, and even category boundaries as Americans become increasingly adventurous in their drinks choices. Now we have a new player in the innovation game—cannabis drinks. While the cannabis phenomenon is clearly the real deal, it’s a product that can be consumed in various forms other than drinks. That makes the scope of the drinks side’s success as yet unclear, but it appears that cannabis-infused beverages are poised to become part of America’s drinking repertoire in the years to come. Some major hurdles remain, of course, particularly with…

Bowmore 30-Year-Old Beam Suntory is extending its Bowmore Islay Scotch whisky with a new 30-year-old expression, set to be released annu-ally in limited amounts. The 2021 release ($2,500 a 750-ml.) was distilled in 1989 and matured in Sherry and Bourbon casks. It’s bottled at cask strength of 45.3% abv, with roughly 2,600 bottles available globally. Bowmore 30-year-old is available at select retailers nationwide. For more information, visit Bowmore.com. Hendrick’s Lunar Gin William Grant & Sons has released Hendrick’s Lunar gin, the second spirit in the brand’s Cabinet of Curiosity series. The 43.4% abv gin ($40 a 750-ml.) was created by master distiller Lesley Grace and has the cucumber and rose Hendrick’s is known for, plus citrus, baking spice, and floral notes. The release is available nationwide as a limited edition.…

Jason Smith and his team at 18 Restaurant Group, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, spent part of the weekend before Christmas making labels for to-go cocktails. Smith, the company’s owner, had already acquired takeout containers earlier in the year. With North Carolina on the verge of making to-go cocktails legal in late December, Smith wanted to be prepared. Nine months into the Covid-19 pandemic that has decimated the restaurant industry nationally, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order allowing cocktails to-go beginning December 21. Just a few days later, Oregon restaurants and bars got the green light on to-go cocktails after a bill passed the state legislature and was signed by Gov. Kate Brown. Jason Brandt, president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, realized his…

Gary’s Introduces Membership Program New Jersey retailer Gary’s Wine & Marketplace has introduced a new membership program offering unlimited free nationwide shipping and local delivery, as well as exclusive member discounts. The Gary’s Plus program offers unlimited free shipping for an annual fee of $49, or free local delivery for $20. “On average, an online customer will purchase from the Gary’s Wine website or mobile app three times per year,” notes Mike Fisch, Gary’s director of innovation. “An increase in the frequency of purchases by just a few percentage points would lead to a substantial increase in our overall revenue.” In 2020, 35% of Gary’s total sales were placed online, up from 12% a year earlier.…

Beam Suntory To Move Global HQ To The Big Apple Beam Suntory will transition its global headquarters from Chicago to New York City in mid-2022. The company will relocate most of its executive leadership team, its global “Brand House” organization, and some global corporate function roles to a 100,000-square-foot space at 11 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, adjacent to Madison Square Park. The current headquarters in Chicago will remain home to its North America business unit and certain corporate positions. Citing New York’s “vibrant restaurant, bar, and consumer environment,” Beam Suntory president and CEO Albert Baladi said the move will “help us accelerate our premiumization strategy and growth plans.” Beam Suntory will join Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Campari, and Rémy Cointreau—all of which base their U.S. operations out of Manhattan—in the Big…

Founders Brewing Kicks Off NBA Partnertship Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Founders Brewing has announced a new partnership with the Philadelphia 76ers, beginning the largest sports partnership in the brewery’s history. The sponsorship will kick off during the second half of the NBA season, with specialized Sixers-themed cans for Founders All Day IPA sold throughout eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. In addition to the team-branded packaging, Founders will run a text-to-win contest giving fans the chance to win co-branded merchandise. Codes for the text-to-win contest can be found at retailers throughout the region.…

Uber To Acquire Drizly In Blockbuster Deal….Uber has agreed to acquire drinks delivery platform Drizly in a deal worth $1.1 billion. Drizly has operations in 1,400 cities across a majority of U.S. states. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close before the end of the first half of 2021. Following the acquisition, Drizly will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber. Its marketplace will eventually be integrated with the Uber Eats app, while also maintaining a separate Drizly app. Founded in 2012, Drizly has expanded rapidly—especially over the past year, when business tripled owing to stay-at-home orders. The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America took an undisclosed minority stake in the company in 2015. Uber sees the chance to further boost that expansion drive looking…

As cannabis legislation continues to move forward throughout the country, the ripple effects of the growing acceptance of cannabidiol products are having a big impact on the bar. In markets where marijuana legalization has been passed, bartenders are adding CBD to their cocktail menus, attracting a wide range of consumers—both established recreational users and those who are new to cannabis—to this growing drinks subcategory. CBD is touted for its calming effects, pain relief, and ability to relieve symptoms of depression, and it’s more widely available because it lacks the psychoactive chemicals associated with THC-based marijuana products. Along with listing a CBD-enhanced Old Fashioned on its signature drinks menu, the bar at Fort Lauderdale, Florida restaurant Lona Cocina & Tequileria offers a CBD rinse for any drink it serves. Bartenders use…

Rum is often tied to such 20th-century drinks as the Rum and Coke and Piña Colada, but rum’s history in cocktails actually dates back even further—as far back as the 17th century. “It’s rumored that in order to ensure sailors on trade ships received the right nutrients to avoid such common problems as scurvy, they drank a mixture of rum, citrus, tea, bitters, and sugar—the architecture for how we make modern punches today,” says Peter Ruppert, beverage director for the New York City café and bar Short Stories and brand ambassador for Philippines-made rum Don Papa. “Rum played a vital role in sneaking vitamins into their system by way of a Trojan horse in the form of the world’s first cocktails.” But then, as Jason Dumas, bar director for Palm…

DISTRICT A INGREDIENTS: 1½ ounces Amass Dry gin;½ ounce Greenbar Distillery Fruitlab Jasmine liqueur;Splash Fernet-Branca;¾ ounce fresh lemon juice;½ ounce simple syrup;Strawberry;Lemon wheel. RECIPE: Rinse a Collins glass with a splash of Fernet-Branca, then put aside. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberry with simple syrup. Add gin, liqueur, lemon juice, and ice. Shake and pour into the rinsed Collins glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel. THE NEW NORMAL INGREDIENTS: 2 ounces serrano pepper-infused Cimarron Blanco Tequila1;1 ounce mango purée;½ ounce fresh lime juice;Top Cock’n Bull ginger beer;Lime wheel;Mango slices. RECIPE: In a copper mug, build Tequila, purée, and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and give a quick stir. Fill mug with pebble ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and mango slices. 1Add 7 chopped serrano peppers to 1…

Duplin Winery To Build Third Location North Carolina-based Duplin Winery is investing an initial $15 million in a 35,000-square-foot entertainment complex in Panama City Beach, Florida, which will mark its third location. Slated to open in early 2022, the venue will feature specialty drinks, gourmet foods, merchandise, live entertainment, and Duplin’s namesake sweet wines, which grew 16% to 560,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank. Duplin’s existing locations include its home base in Rose Hill, North Carolina and a North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina outpost that opened in 2015.…

Vintage Wine Estates To Go Public Santa Rosa, California-based Vintage Wine Estates (VWE) has announced a plan to merge with blank check company Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp (BCAC) in a move that will result in VWE going public. The company is valued at $690 million, plus more than $50 million of potential deferred consideration. Also, prior to the merger agreement, which is expected to close by May 5, Wasatch Global Investors acquired a $28 million stake in VWE. Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp is led by former Diageo CEO Paul Walsh. He’ll become non-executive chairman of the merged company, which will continue to be known as Vintage Wine Estates, with founder and CEO Pat Roney continuing in that role. Bespoke is in the process of listing on the NASDAQ exchange. Vintage…

Aurora Aligns With Great North Canadian cannabis giant Aurora has partnered with Great North Distributors as its exclusive representative across all of Canada. Great North is a subsidiary of Southern Glazer’s Canada and a national sales broker for recreational cannabis. Aurora’s recreational brand suite includes small-batch, organic Whistler Cannabis Co.; San Rafael’71; Aurora Drift; and value brand Daily Special, among others. While Aurora has covered its bases producing flower, edibles, and vapes, its portfolio is noticeably lacking the beverage options its competitors have developed. Nonetheless, its brands stand to gain considerably from the sort of coordinated, national sales push they will receive under the Great North partnership.…

Edmond de Rothschild Chairman Benjamin de Rothschild Benjamin de Rothschild, chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Holding SA, passed away January 15 of a heart attack at his home in Pregny, Switzerland. He was 57. Head of the Edmond de Rothschild group since 1997, he was a noted entrepreneur and philanthropist. He’s survived by his children and wife, Ariane de Rothschild, who in recent years has taken a leading role in further developing the group’s wine holdings, which include Châteaux Clarke, Malmaison, and des Laurets in Bordeaux, as well as wines from Spain, Argentina, South Africa, and New Zealand. The Editors…

OJO DEL TIGRE By Jason Dumas Ingredients: ¾ ounce Wray & Nephew White Overproof rum;¾ ounce Appleton Estate 8-year-old Jamaica rum;¾ ounce La Cigarrera Pedro Ximénez Sherry;½ ounce Contratto Bitter liqueur;1 barspoon Bénédictine herbal liqueur;½ ounce grapefruit juice;¼ ounce lime juice;3 drops saline solution1;3 drops Bittermens’Elemakule Tiki bitters;Mint sprig; Lime wheel. Recipe: In a cocktail shaker, combine rums, Sherry, liqueurs, juices, saline solution, and bitters, then add ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a double rocks glass. Top with ice and garnish with a mint sprig and lime wheel. RUM AND HONEY By Kevin Beary Ingredients: ¾ ounce Appleton Estate 21-year-old Jamaica rum;¾ ounce Chairman’s Reserve The Forgotten Casks St. Lucia rum;½ ounce Neisson Reserve Speciale Rhum Agricole;¼ ounce honey syrup2. Recipe: In an ice-filled mixing glass, combine rums and…

SGWS E-Commerce Platform Tops $1 Billion Southern Glazer’s Proof e-commerce platform has topped $1 billion in revenue since launching in 2019. The platform is now live across 27 states and Washington, D.C., serving more than 100,000 customers. Southern Glazer’s has recently added new features to Proof, including enhanced search features and payment options, a customized search function to discover the best deals across the Southern Glazer’s portfolio, a streamlined reordering process, and the ability to track orders scheduled for delivery that day. RNDC And LibDib Join With Analytics Platform Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) and LibDib have struck an exclusive multi-year partnership with artificial intelligence analytics platform Tickr. Via the partnership, RNDC and LibDib will provide suppliers real-time Tickr dashboards including brand and product performance by geography and segment, relevant…

Brown-Forman Corp. has announced that G. Garvin Brown IV, the chairman of the company’s board, will retire in July. He’ll be succeeded by Campbell P. Brown at Brown-Forman’s annual stockholders meeting. Garvin Brown retires after chairing the board for 14 years. Both Garvin and Campbell Brown are great-great-grandsons of the company’s founder. Rémy Cointreau has appointed Jon Arnold as chief commercial officer of its U.S. business, a new position within the group. Prior to joining Rémy Cointreau, Arnold spent 22 years at L’Oréal in general management and key account positions in Australia, France, Thailand, and the UK. In his new role, he will lead Rémy’s U.S. commercial team and report directly to Ian McLernon, president and CEO of the Americas. Diageo North America has announced that Lavanya Chandrashekar, currently CFO…