Nicola Carruthers

6 days ago | thespiritsbusiness.com | Nicola Carruthers

Italian firm Campari Group saw organic sales drop by 4.8% in the first quarter and confirmed it would streamline its portfolio and not seek further acquisitions. The Milan-headquartered group noted a ‘soft start’ to this year with sales falling to €666 million (US$750m) in the first quarter (Q1). The first-quarter performance followed a full-year organic sales increase of 2.4% for the Aperol maker in 2024.

6 days ago | thespiritsbusiness.com | Nicola Carruthers

As the UK’s appetite for spirits continues to grow, London Wine Fair is aiming to meet this demand with a dedicated spirits space at its upcoming show. May marks the return of one of the UK’s biggest drinks events, London Wine Fair, which will place a greater focus on spirits for 2025. A key event in the drinks industry calendar, London Wine Fair will welcome thousands of trade professionals to Olympia from 19-21 May.

1 week ago | thespiritsbusiness.com | Nicola Carruthers

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Diageo North America alleging that the company has falsely marketed its Tequila brands as ‘100% agave’. Consumers Avi Pusateri and Chaim Mishulovin, and Japanese-inspired restaurant Sushi Tokyo, filed the class action lawsuit against Diageo North America in the US District Court of the Eastern District of New York. Pusateri is a resident of New York who owns and operates the Jazz Age Cocktails mixology group. Mishulovin is a resident of New Jersey.

1 week ago | thespiritsbusiness.com | Nicola Carruthers

Dave Bautista-backed Devils River Distillery in Texas has become the latest whiskey maker to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Based in San Antonio, Devils River Distillery filed for bankruptcy under Subchapter V in the US Bankruptcy Court for Western District of Texas. The company reported assets between US$1 million and US$10m against liabilities in the US$50,001 to US$100,000 range.

1 week ago | thespiritsbusiness.com | Nicola Carruthers

The pace of innovation has slowed in the ready-to-drink category but spirits-based products are making gains at the expense of hard seltzers. According to IWSR’s RTD Strategic Study, more than 3,400 new RTD products were launched in the world’s top 10 markets for the category in 2021, but by 2024 that figure had dropped to just over 1,800. The study looks at the performance of the category in 10 key markets: Canada, the US, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, the UK, Germany, China, Japan and Australia.