Diageo Aiming for Innovative New Products

Dear Client:Diageo’s North American head Ivan Menezes said he expects the U.S. spirits industry to increase sales volumes during the economic downturn despite a slowdown in growth at the end of 2008.Last year the spirits industry grew between 1-1.5% and 2%, compared to growth in recent years of 2-3%. Retailers and wholesaler destocking during the holidays brought growth to the range of 0-1%, said Ivan in an interview with Reuters. He expects destocking will continue during the first half of