Dear Client:
Last year William Grant & Sons named Paul Basford as president & managing director of its US business, effective May 24 [see WSD 05-04-2021]. Your editor got Paul on the horn recently to discuss his first months at the company and plans for the future.
But first, a little about Paul. He’s a transplanted Brit living in the US, with more than 25 years of international industry beverage experience, spending the first decade of his career at Diageo in the UK. He moved on to Britvic Soft Drinks, growing the company internationally, and most recently worked as svp and gm at Danone Waters of America. But he wanted to get back into the spirits industry. So when the opportunity at William Grant came up, Paul said “this was the right decision and the right opportunity at the right time.”
William Grant “has been growing significantly,” Paul tells WSD. “It’s looking for its next push of growth, and it’s in super health…. But I think my combination of skill of knowing the industry from the Diageo days, knowing how the dynamics work, the brands etc., is very important. Secondly, I’ve got very good distributor knowledge of the US.” That’s allowed him to “make a relatively fast start and get into the business and start to try and propel a bit more growth for the business.”
His first seven months on the job have “passed by in a flash” and “it’s been a real balance of innovation, making sure we’re spending the money in the right way, making sure we’ve set up for 2022 in the right way, and leveraging distributors and the relationships with distributors in a stronger way as well,” he says.
STRONG BRAND REINVESTMENT. One of William Grant’s strengths is the level of reinvestment it makes into its portfolio, with a particular focus on the core brands, Hendrick’s, Balvenie, Glenfiddich, and Milagro tequila – all of which are growing “very high double digits,” according to Paul.
More specifically, Paul says Hendrick’s “has had a lot of money spent behind it” around marketing. They’ve also invested a fair amount behind their single malt Scotches, in both marketing and producing older age statements. Then, for Milagro tequila, they’ve been “propelling a lot into [the brand]…to really push that forward in terms of mixability” to capitalize on the success of the tequila category.
“But I would say every single brand in the portfolio gets its fair share, and absolutely is something we’ve been quite excited to propel,” he adds.
READY-TO-SERVE A “NATURAL EXTENSION.” Innovation will be a big focus for the company in 2022, particularly around ready-to-serve.
Ready-to-serve “is just a natural extension of some fabulous brands, whether it’s Hendrick’s, Glenfiddich, Monkey Shoulder, Reyka vodka – you’ll see a range of ready-to-serve featuring those [brands] going forward,” says Paul. He didn’t give much more detail here, but we can expect to see some of that innovation this March.
PUSHING THE INNOVATION AGENDA. Paul’s also looking at what other segments are missing from the portfolio that consumers are looking for that are not necessarily mainstream segments.
“So I think there will be more smaller, targeted innovations as we move forward in a very exciting way that will just round out the portfolio versus doing anything major mainstream,” Paul explains, adding health and wellness and sustainability are big focuses. “I think those two things are nice complements to what is already a very strong portfolio.”
They’ve been “pushing the innovation agenda, and ultimately making sure we have the right investment behind the business to exploit these huge trends of premiumization” as well as premixed cocktails.
More on Paul’s priorities for this year, e-commerce, and navigating the new on-premise later this week.
IWSR: LOW AND NO-ALC GLOBAL MARKET VALUE JUST SHY OF $10 BILLION IN 2021
No- and low-alcohol beer/cider, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink product volumes were up over 6% across ten key global focus markets in 2021, according to a recent IWSR report. No and low-alc products now make up 3.5% volume share of the industry, coming out to a market value just under $10 billion, up from about $7.8 billion in 2018.
The ten focus markets include Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Across these key markets, the IWSR forecasts that low/no alcohol products will grow at an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021 and 2025. Comparatively, bev alc is expected to experience volume growth of 0.7% CAGR during the same time period.
Beer/cider is the largest no/low alc segment at 75% of volume share globally. Non-alc beer is projected to drive growth for the segment, surpassing an 11% CAGR between 2021 and 2025. Non-alc RTDs and non-alc spirits are both expected to reach about a 14% CAGR volume growth over the same time period. Wine’s growth is led by low-alc products, with low-alc wine expected to hit a 20% CAGR from 2021-2025, while no-alc wine is expected to reach a 9% CAGR.
The US is one of the top no/low alc markets of the group, with no/low alc volumes up 31% in 2021. The segment in the US is projected to grow at 28% CAGR in volumes between 2021-2025.
While most consumers across the key markets also drink full-strength alcoholic products, about 17% of no/low alc consumers reported they consume the products to avoid alcohol completely. In the US that proportion is higher, with 23% of no/low alc drinkers consuming the products to avoid alcohol completely.
JOHNSON BROS. ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CHANGES
Minnesota-based Johnson Brothers today announced a few changes to its executive leadership team.
George Marsden will join the wholesaler as chief commercial officer, effective March 1. He joins from E&J Gallo where he works as vp of sales, Northern area. In his new role, George will oversee the entire commercial organization for Johnson Bros. including the sales, national accounts, sales strategy, category development and e-commerce teams.
In addition, Johnson Bros. current evp and chief sales officer Doug McIntosh will “be moving into a new executive leadership and advisory role supporting several key initiatives,” per release.
Then, Mark Hubler’s role will be expanded to president and ceo, and current evp and chief strategy officer Victoria Snyder will also expand her role to chief operating officer and chief strategy officer.
“The expansion of both Mark and Victoria’s roles is recognition of the tremendous impact they’ve made on our business over the last several years including driving improved operational performance and significant growth,” says co-owner Todd Johnson. “All these changes to our executive team will be instrumental in shaping our future and positioning us for continued growth.”
WSD BRIEF:
JAPAN RECOGNIZES BOURBON AND TENNESSEE WHISKEY AS DISTINCTIVE US PRODUCTS. The Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) announced that as of December 22, 2021, Japan became the 44th country to officially recognize bourbon and Tennessee whiskey as “distinctive products of the United States,” per release. “This recognition ensures that only bourbon and Tennessee whiskey that are produced in the United States according to official US standards may be sold in Japan,” said DISCUS vp of international trade Robert Maron. “Japan ranks as the top export market for American whiskeys. This action will ensure the integrity of these popular spirits products in this critical market.” Japan initiated the approval process in 2015 as part of an agreement with the US to undergo similar approvals for Japanese products. “We wish to thank the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for their tireless efforts to secure Japan’s recognition of two of America’s distinctive spirits — bourbon and Tennessee whiskey,” added Robert.
Until tomorrow,
Your editors
Sarah Barrett, Executive Editor
Hana Kruger, Assistant Editor
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
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