Below you'll find today's edition of Shanken News Daily - free of charge! This daily e-newsletter keeps you at the forefront of the global spirits, wine and beer business. In each issue, you can expect: - Late-breaking news
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Make sure you stay in the know - Get Shanken News Daily for only $1 for the first 30 days! Look for it in your inbox, first thing every weekday morning. You'll also receive Breaking News Alerts, the Weekend Review, and you'll have access to ShankenNewsDaily.com. Take advantage of this very special offer: Get your first 30 days for just $1! Your friends at Shanken News Daily  P.S. If you already receive Shanken News Daily, you don't have to do anything. We hope you continue to enjoy it.  Pernod Ricard Partners With Gladstone And Teasdale's Lafayette Imports Pernod Ricard is teaming up with spirits industry veterans Elwyn Gladstone and Mark Teasdale, who have opened a new Lafayette Imports company as a wholly owned subsidiary of their existing company Biggar & Leith. Based in the New York area, Lafayette Imports will handle Pernod Ricard’s Plymouth Gin, Powers Irish Whiskey, and a range of craft Irish whiskey brands including Knappogue Castle single malts and Clontarf (both of which Pernod gained in its 2019 acquisition of Castle Brands). Those brands will join Biggar & Leith’s spirits portfolio of Spytail Rum, Hotel Starlino Vermouth, Stambecco Amaro, The Gladstone Axe Malt Scotch, Shanky’s Whip, and The Butterfly Cannon Tequila. “Plymouth, Powers, Knappogue Castle, and Clontarf have strong potential in growing categories,” stated Pernod Ricard chairman and CEO Alexandre Ricard, adding, “This dedicated and fit for purpose approach allows these brands to have renewed development and to meet new consumers.”
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“The spirits market is driven by innovation and premium high-quality brands with provenance and heritage,” said Teasdale. “We're excited to be bringing our expertise, track-record, and know-how to an entirely new company which will house a noteworthy portfolio of brands in exciting categories with huge growth potential.” Teasdale and Gladstone have worked together for two decades, first at William Grant & Sons, then at Proximo Spirits. The duo sold their Malfy gin brand to Pernod in 2019. Southern Glazer's Takes Undisclosed Stake In ReserveBar Southern Glazer's has taken an undisclosed equity stake in ReserveBar, a leading e-commerce platform for premium and luxury spirits in the U.S. The top-ranked U.S. wholesaler made the move via its Southern Glazer's Ventures business, led by the company's chief growth officer, David Chaplin. Financials weren't disclosed. Southern Glazer's says the deal expands its digital marketing offerings to suppliers by providing an additional three-tier-compliant platform for marketing their brands to consumers. ReserveBar isn't a licensed supplier, wholesaler, or retailer, but connects consumers with licensed retailers to make their purchase. It has become a showcase for “premium, ultra-premium and luxury spirits and is dedicated to personalization, upscale packaging, and fast and reliable delivery,” Southern Glazer's stated. “With ReserveBar, we are able to offer our supplier partners an exciting three-tier compliant, consumer-focused channel to market and sell their premium brands,” said David Chaplin. “We look forward to helping our diverse base of suppliers leverage this platform to build their brands and reach an important and growing category of consumer.” Wine Spectator: New Covid Relief Act Helps Restaurants And Wineries One year after the Covid-19 pandemic began, the U.S. government has enacted the first federal aid targeted directly at one of the most heavily damaged American economic sectors: the restaurant industry. And it could help impacted wineries, as well. The American Rescue Plan (ARP), passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last week, includes $28.6 billion for restaurants, bars and other dining businesses. Winery tasting rooms are also included. Restaurant-specific aid was first proposed last fall when the House of Representatives considered the Real Economic Support that Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive (RESTAURANTS) Act. That bill proposed more than $120 billion in direct grants to the dining industry. The act passed the House but not the Senate, and despite pleas from the restaurant industry, was never incorporated into the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Securities (CARES) Act that was signed into law in March 2020. During this round of legislating, the bill was added to the ARP, albeit at a much smaller price tag of just under $30 billion. Eating and drinking venues, including winery tasting rooms, can apply for grants to cover expenses back to Feb. 15, 2020. Eligible expenses include mortgage and rent payments, wages, benefits, building outdoor eating areas, and many other categories. The size of the grants will be determined by comparing 2020 revenues with 2019 revenues. More than $5 billion will be reserved for smaller businesses whose annual receipts were below $500,000. Grants will be capped at $10 million for restaurant groups and $5 million for individual places. Publicly traded companies or restaurants with more than 20 locations are ineligible. Wine Spectator has the full story. News Briefs: •Jackson Family Wines and Churchill Downs have announced a new four-year partnership between the home of the Kentucky Derby and brands Kendall-Jackson and La Crema. The partnership, which names the brands the preferred wines of the Kentucky Derby, will see Kendall-Jackson and La Crema poured at all racetrack events from 2021 to 2024, kicking off with this year’s Derby Week, starting May 1. Additionally, the brands will be promoted through various activations at Churchill Downs during the partnership. For the 52 weeks ending December 27, 2020, Kendall Jackson was up 5.8% and La Crema was up 18.1% in IRI channels.
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•Northeast Drinks Group LLC has purchased the Vermont Cider Company from Ireland's C&C Group for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes all brands and the cidery’s Middlebury, Vermont-based production facility. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the next 30 days and will return the cidery’s brands, including Woodchuck Cider, to local ownership. Vermont Cider Company’s portfolio also includes Magner’s, Wyder’s, Gumption, and Blackthorn ciders, along with Viva Spritz. •Ghost Tequila is aligning nationally with Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC). The two companies will partner immediately in Florida, Washington, Arizona, and Michigan (in addition to the current RNDC markets of Texas, California, Louisiana, and Colorado). Further states will follow shortly, as well as additional control states outside of the Northeast where RNDC will serve as the brand’s master broker. By the end of this year, Ghost is slated to be present in more than 30 U.S. states, as well as over a dozen international markets. •Winebow has named Chris Luke as vice president of wholesale sales, broad market, in Washington state. Luke previously held the same role at Winebow in Georgia. He reports to Arjun Dewan, Winebow's executive vice president, broad market wholesale sales. The move comes as Winebow prepares to move to a new distribution center this summer in Kent, Washington, south of Seattle, which will expand its warehousing capacity in the state by 50%. •Diageo has launched Cîroc Summer Citrus, the latest flavored offshoot for the grape-distilled vodka brand. The 35% abv spirit is infused with orange and other citrus flavors, and comes packaged in a multicolor bottle meant to evoke summer. Cîroc Summer Citrus is now available for a limited time across the U.S. for a suggested price of $34 a 750-ml. Last year, Cîroc slipped an estimated 2.2% to 1.35 million cases in the U.S., according to Impact Databank. •Minnesota’s O’Shaughnessy Distilling Company has announced the Keeper’s Cask Society, a super-limited membership program, ahead of the summer 2021 launch of its first whiskey. The society is open to 100 people who will be offered a VIP tour of the distillery hosted by master distiller Brian Nation and the ability to purchase exclusive and limited edition whiskies, including rare casks. This summer the distillery will launch Keeper’s Heart Irish American whiskey, a triple distilled spirit made from American grains in the style of Irish whiskey. Recently in the News: | |
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