This week in spirits & wine, featuring Diageo and Edrington’s FY results, Moet Hennessy’s H1s, Campari’s pre-mixed Negroni and Australian wine

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.

Diageo gets FY back on track amid currency flux – results

• Diageo’s underlying sales returned to growth for the fiscal year but currency volatility continued to hamper top and bottom lines. 

“We tried for a long time to make Bushmills hot” – Diageo CEO Menezes

• Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes has said he has no regrets over the sale of Bushmills, admitting that the company couldn’t make the Irish whiskey grow in the US.

Brexit “not a big deal” for Scotch – Diageo CEO

• Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes has said Brexit will not affect Scotch exports, and instead is an opportunity to open up whisky to new markets.

Drinks industry confidence hit hard by Brexit vote – just-drinks survey

• Confidence in the global drinks industry has been dealt a significant blow by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), an exclusive just-drinks survey shows.

Moet Hennessy posts H1 bounce as Cognac volumes soar – results

• Cognac in the US helped drive strong sales and profits growth for LVMH’s wines & spirits unit, Moet Hennessy, in the first half of the year.

Scotch volumes drop hits Edrington as FY profits fall – results

• Edrington has posted a a drop in full-year profits as its core Scotch brands, The Macallan and The Famous Grouse, lost volumes in key markets.

Australia’s upper-end wines “not cutting through” in UK – Berry Bros & Rudd CEO

• UK consumers still perceive Australian wine to be homogenous and dominated by big brands, according to the CEO of Berry Bros & Rudd.

Gruppo Campari trials Negroni pre-mix, commits to Jamaica sugar unit

• Gruppo Campari is trialling a pre-mix Negroni product in the US as it looks to ride the popularity of the Campari-based cocktail in the country’s on-premise.

Vranken-Pommery Monopole withholds forecast as H1 Champagne sales drop – results

• Vranken-Pommery Monopole has declined to issue a full-year forecast as still wine growth propped up falling Champagne sales in the first six months of the year.

Halewood Wines & Spirits makes West Cork Distillers stake purchase

• Halewood Wines & Spirits has acquired a holding in Irish whiskey producer West Cork Distillers, four months after buying a 50% holding in the firm’s The Pogues brand.

Lucas Bols, De Kuyper, Herman Jansen rescue Cooymans from administration

• Lucas Bols, De Kuyper Royal Distillers and Herman Jansen have agreed the carve-up of drinks producer Distilleerderij Cooymans and the wine operations of Delcave/NCK.

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