
Pernod Ricard will report its third-quarter numbers on Thursday. Here, just-drinks takes a look at what the Paris-headquartered group has been up to in the three months to the end of March.
- At the star of the quarter, Pernod announced that its internet-connected home spirits dispenser, Opn, will be released in early-2018
- In January, just-drinks met with Pernod’s luxury & customer relationship management director to discuss the concept of luxury and its role within Pernod. Tareef Shawa also said China’s thirst for top-end Cognac is returning
- A few days later, the company confirmed a EUR10.5m (US$11.2m) investment in its main distillery in Ireland
- In February, Pernod CEO Alex Ricard said the company must stand its ground on Absolut’s pricing in the US, in the wake of increasing pressure from the other players within the vodka category
- In the same month, Pernod’s local vodka project in Berlin received a distribution boost, in order to help the brand reach the wider German market
- In an exclusive interview with just-drinks, CEO Alex Ricard confirmed that he had introduced zero-based budgeting into his company. He also said that the current Travel Retail model is unsustainable.