News Briefs for June 30, 2014
June 30, 2014•Following the Texas Package Stores Association’s recent move asking a federal court to reexamine the state’s one-year residency rule, which hasn’t been enforced in decades, two major national players—Total Wine & More and Southern Wine & Spirits—are returning fire. Both Total Wine and SWS have filed motions to deny or dismiss the TPSA’s request. Texas is a key growth market for Total Wine, which already has six stores open there and expects to open four or five more by the end of 2015. Southern has held a distribution license in Texas for a few years now, but has yet to open a business in the state, whose wholesale wine and spirits market is dominated by RNDC and Glazer’s.
•Scotch producer Edrington Group has reported a 3% increase in turnover to £607.7 million ($1.04b) for its full year ended March 31, 2014. Pre-tax profits were also up 3%, to £174 million ($296 million), bolstered by strong performances from The Macallan, Highland Park, Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark Scotch whisky brands, as well as the group’s recent launch of sales, marketing and distribution companies in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the U.S. According to Edrington chief executive Ian Curle, the group’s turnover and profit have risen 45% and 84% respectively over the past five years. Late last year, Edrington pledged to invest more than £100 million ($170m) in its flagship Macallan brand, which grew 17% to 186,000 cases in the U.S. in 2013, according to Impact Databank.
•Bacardi Ltd. has announced a pair of new appointments for its Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & Africa (MEA) divisions, effective immediately. Jon Grey, formerly regional president for Bacardi’s MEA unit, has been named APAC regional president. He replaces Siddik Tetík, who recently announced plans to leave Bacardi. Concurrently, Mahesh Madhavan, formerly managing director of MEA, will succeed Grey as MEA regional president.
•Kahn Ventures, Inc. (KVI) has announced the following executive leadership changes: Gary Wolfe will be promoted to COO, Kevin Smallwood will be promoted from general manager to president of Empire Distributors of North Carolina, Andy Cox to president of Horizon Wine & Spirits of Tennessee, Greg Clarke to VP of special projects for KVI, Ted Zitelli to senior vice president of human resources and teammate development and Jim Schwarzkopf will be promoted to executive vice president and CFO. All company presidents will report to Wolfe, with Wolfe reporting to David Kahn, president and CEO of Kahn.
Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.Tagged : Bacardi Ltd., Cutty Sark, Edrington Group, Empire Distributors of North Carolina, Famous Grouse, Glazer's, Highland Park, Horizon Wine & Spirits of Tennessee, Inc., Kanh Ventures, RNDC, Southern Wine & Spirits, Texas Package Stores Association, The Macallan, Total Wine & More
