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Late last week, Diageo's Latin America & Caribbean president Alberto Gavazzi hosted a conference call with analysts. Gavazzi offered some insight into the region's burgeoning Scotch market, as well as plans for Cachaça and the rise of cocktail culture. Here, just-drinks takes a closer look at some key points from the call. 

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On 9 May, Diageo is hosting its latest Capital Markets Day for analysts and investors, in London. Ahead of the group's presentations, Anthony Bucalo, global beverages analyst at HSBC, has prepared a list of questions for the senior executive team, for what he describes as a "crucial" day for Diageo.

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It's the last thing the English language needs, but could a companion term to the verbally-ugly 'premiumisation' pass into everyday use in the years to come? Is 'mainstreamisation' – a neologism arguably even more hideous than the p-word – here to stay? Richard Woodard thinks so.

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The saga of Absolut's travails in the US continues, with the mooted recovery in the Pernod Ricard-owned vodka brand's fortunes proving more elusive than the company had hoped. Are Millennials to blame? Richard Woodard reports.

Following today's full-year 2017 results, just-drinks spoke to Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes about regional challenges, product innovation and acquisition strategy.

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Earlier today (28 May), Diageo announced that it will buy the Ypióca cachaça brand in Brazil from Ypióca Agroindustrial Limitada for BRL900m (US$453.9m). As part of its press material, the company issued a short interview with the president of its Latin America and Caribbean operations, Randy Millian, in which he discussed the purchase.

Diageo has recruited actor Ted Danson to front a series of online adverts for Smirnoff in the US.

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Diageo has launched two new Smirnoff Ice flavours exclusively to the South Korean market.

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Diageo's UK unit has lined up price-marked cans across several products in its ready-to-drink portfolio. 

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Diageo's UK unit has launched a new variant under the Smirnoff Cider brand. 

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Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau are the best-placed spirits companies to appeal to Millennial consumers, according to a recent report.

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Diageo has become the latest alcohol company to team up with UK home delivery service Deliveroo.

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Diageo has delivered on its promise earlier this year to enter the alcoholic seltzer fray in the US, launching a Smirnoff-branded range this month.

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Mainstream vodka brands including Diageo's Smirnoff and Pernod Ricard's Absolut have strong growth potential in emerging markets, a new report has said.

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Alcoholic drinks that use healthy cues will struggle to break into the mass market, according to analysts at Mintel.

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Diageo's Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff have continued their slide down a list of the world's most valuable brands.

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Kenya Breweries has released a new RTD variant under the Smirnoff vodka brand.

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Diageo's Johnnie Walker brand has consolidated its dominance of Global Travel Retail's spirits shelves, although Pernod Ricard's Absolut has been overtaken by Chivas Regal and Brown-Forman's Jack Daniel's, according to figures from The IWSR.

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Diageo's Smirnoff brand has moved up one place in a list of the world's biggest-selling spirits brands after posting record volumes and strong growth in 2015.

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Diageo has released two variants of Smirnoff Cider, a blend of carbonated cider, fruit flavours and Smirnoff vodka.

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Diageo has confirmed details of its latest Smirnoff Ice NPD, with two new flavours being released under the Electric mark.

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Diageo has confirmed details of three recently-released Smirnoff vodka brand extensions in the US under the name Smirnoff Sourced.

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Diageo has again extended its sponsorship of the McLaren-Honda Formula One team for its Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky brand.

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The Smirnoff vodka brand is still "very early" in its growth journey, Diageo's CEO has told just-drinks, although that growth is more likely to come from newer markets than existing ones.

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Diageo's sales dropped 5% in the first half of its financial year but underlying performance stayed solid as Smirnoff returned to growth in the US.

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United Breweries has launched Kingfisher Buzz as it targets Bacardi's dominance in India's RTD market.

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Diageo's Indian spirits unit, United Spirits, has said it is reviewing its Smirnoff Ice strategy amid media reports it has halted production.

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Here's a round-up of this week's top stories in the spirits & wine categories. We also have similar round-ups for beer & cider and soft drinks & water.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron used Diageo's Smirnoff brand as a weapon for a spot of political retaliation during his speech at the Conservative Party conference today.