News Briefs for September 20, 2012
September 20, 2012•Brown-Forman has named Terry Yip as its new managing director, China, effective October 8. Yip has worked in the spirits industry for 15 years, spending much of that time with Diageo, where he was most recently operations director, China. Yip will be based at B-F’s China headquarters in Shanghai. While Chinese consumers’ penchant for upscale Cognac and Scotch whisky has been well documented, Brown-Forman’s Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey has also been rising in the emerging market, with its Gentleman Jack and Jack & Cola RTDs offshoots also making inroads. In other company news, B-F’s brands will be handled in Japan—a key market for both Jack Daniel’s and Early Times—by Asahi beginning January 1. They’re currently distributed by Suntory in Japan. That move comes as Suntory adds Beam Inc. brands Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark to its stable, effective January 4.
•Glen Rock, New Jersey-based Opici Wine Group has expanded its distribution operations into Washington, D.C. On October 1, Opici will launch the Opici Wine Company of Washington, D.C. Eoin Connors, who joins Opici from Southern Wine & Spirits (where he was most recently fine wine specialist/key account manager, Maryland/Washington, D.C.), will lead the new unit as general sales manager. The Opici Wine Company of Washington, D.C. will join Opici’s distribution operations in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Florida.
•Sonoma’s Kenwood Vineyards has released the latest vintage in its Artist Series, the 2008 Kenwood Vineyards Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon. Featuring original artwork by Robin F. Williams on the label, this year’s Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from both Knights Valley (66%) and the Sonoma Valley (34%). A limited edition offering, the 2008 Kenwood Vineyards Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon is priced at $60 a 750-ml., with 1,454 cases available. Launched in 1975, Kenwood’s Artist Series always consists of a Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, with previous vintage labels featuring artists such as Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Sam Francis and Vincent van Gogh, among others.
•Tesco CEO Philip Clarke defended the performance of the group’s struggling U.S. retail chain Fresh & Easy at the World Retail Congress in London yesterday. “The stores that we have continue to grow nicely and the reason it’s worth persisting is that the stores themselves fulfill a particular need for a particular group of customers,” Clarke said, adding that new product ranges and operational changes—like reducing staff and hours at some locations—have helped improve Fresh & Easy’s performance in recent months. Earlier this year, Clarke acknowledged under shareholder duress that Tesco would consider scrapping the brand if its difficulties persist. Currently, the British retail giant believes Fresh & Easy—which stocks more than 450 wines at its 180 stores across California, Arizona and Nevada—will turn a profit by early 2014.
•California-based importer G.K. Skaggs has introduced a new Chianti brand, Tenuta Poggio Ai Mandorli ($19.99 a bottle), to the U.S. market. A Chianti Classico Riserva, the new entry is 90% Sangiovese blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s aged for a minimum of 18 months in oak and for another four months in bottle. About 5,000 cases of the new wine, which is made by the Trambusti family, have been imported.
•MillerCoors has released a new brand, Redd’s Apple Ale, into select states. Redd’s is billed as a golden ale brewed with apple flavors. Rolling out in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles, it’s 5%-abv and expected to compete against beer alternatives like Mike’s Hard Lemonade. So far the new offering has landed in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
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Tagged : Brown-Forman, MillerCoors, retail
