Beam Suntory Sales Rise 7% In 2023, Reaching $5.6 Billion

Third-largest global spirits marketer Beam Suntory bucked industry headwinds to post 7% net sales growth and a 13% increase in operating profit for 2023, with annual revenue now at $5.6 billion. Growth was led by core whisk(e)y labels like Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, and Yamazaki, with strong growth across Japan and emerging Asian markets offsetting a 2% decline in North America. Beam Suntory’s Asia Pacific and International business units grew 14% and 8% respectively last year.

The U.S. dip was attributed to the “slowdown in consumer demand in the U.S. as the category resets post-Covid.” “As the industry has, we faced some challenges in the U.S. due to market trends, but with net sales up 7% and operating income up 13%, we feel quite good that those are strong results,” Beam Suntory president and CEO Greg Hughes told SND.

Globally, Beam Suntory’s progress was “driven by some of our key brands like Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, and Yamazaki,” Hughes noted. “We had Jim Beam up 3%, Maker’s Mark up 10%, Knob Creek up 10%, brands that are rooted in quality and craftsmanship and authentic heritage. That was true also with El Tesoro Tequila delivering double-digit growth and then our RTD portfolio being up 12%. We saw particularly strong traction behind our House of Suntory hundred-year anniversary, which drove double-digit growth for that portfolio.”

Among the company’s key performers in the U.S., the On the Rocks ready-to-serve cocktail brand grew 11% to nearly 740,000 cases last year, according to Impact Databank, while Maker’s Mark rose 4.5% to almost 2.5 million cases and Knob Creek increased 4% to 560,000 cases. Hornitos Tequila was up 3% to 1.7 million cases.

While premiumization has slowed some across the U.S. spirits market lately, Hughes said it remains an anchor of the company’s strategy and will continue to be a key focus this year and beyond, as Beam Suntory looks to enhance its presence in the prestige and ultra-premium spirits segments. “We still see that trend toward premiumization, whether it’s within whisky with consumers trading up to a 25-year-old Bowmore or 18-year-old Yamazaki, or with a premium version of at-home cocktail consumption like On the Rocks,” he said.

Beam Suntory also continues to make headway on its goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its value chain by 2040, with the company rolling out sustainable packaging initiatives from the Laphroaig single malt Scotch whisky and Sipsmith gin brands. We’ll have more from our interview with Greg Hughes next week.—Daniel Marsteller

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