2015 MARKS THE FIRST YEAR COGNAC SALES REACH 4.5 MILLION CASES SOLD IN THE USA

This year 2015 for the first time cognac will reach 4.5 million cases sold in the USA says Shanken News based on recent reports from the sales and depletions reports from Impact Databank, NABCA reports and Nielsen Channels.

This results is contrasting with the sales from the economic downturn of 2008-2009. Sales have gradually regained ground since 2009, but a more noticeable growth has started since 2014.

Average sales growth is estimated at 18.5% overall in the US and 71% in control states, with the majority of sales being VS category cognacs.

Hennessy is leading the category with 64% of market share. Martell is ranked 5th with an impressive 18.5% sales growth. Salignac is a sub-brand of Courvoisier and is ranked 4th with a decreasing amount of sales (-5.7%).

Bacardi with D'Usse cognac is making growing sales since its introduction with the VSOP in 2012, and now the surprisingly expensive XO ($230) in 2015.

---RANKING OF COGNAC BRAND BY SALES VOLUME IN THE USA (2015)---
1st: Hennessy (LVMH)
2nd: Remy Martin (Remy Cointreau)
3rd: Courvoisier (Beam Suntory)
4th: Salignac (Beam Suntory)
5th: Martell (Pernod-Ricard)

Source: Shanken News Daily

HENNESSY IS KEEPING UP WITH GROWING GLOBAL DEMAND MOSTLY IN THE US

Moët Hennessy’s flagship  brand, namely, Hennessy Cognac continues to see sales increases in its U.S. market.

With a 64% share of the U.S. Cognac market, Hennessy’s accelerated pace helped drive the category’s total U.S. depletions to just under 4 million cases on a 7.7% increase last year.
Hennessy is trying to (1) widen Cognac’s audience and (2) cognac's consumption occasions.

Hennessy Cognac is a leader in the category to invest in reaching out to mixologists and have significantly built up on this momentum. But also through its campaign "never stop.never settle" and the inspiration from the "wild rabbit", Hennessy has drawn a great deal of positive attention.

The breadth Hennessy's product line allows the brand to cover wider market segments: VS ($32), Black ($40) and VSOP Privilège ($50-$60) tiers. In a Upward stretch the range also includes Hennessy XO ($160), Paradis ($250), Paradis Impérial ($3,000) and the deluxe model Hennessy Richard ($4,800).

With Hennessy's limited edition Artist Series bottles, such as with with OS GEMEOS, FUTURA, SHEPARD FAIREY, KAWS, KESH BURROWS, and more recently RYAN MCGINNESS.

The brand is able to provide experiential marketing views so important to millennial consumers as emotional references. This target is very focused on the pleasurable and meaningful aspects of brand interaction.

Hennessy Product Line 2015

To keep up with growing global demand, Moët Hennessy recently broke ground on a new 26,000-square-meter (280,000-square-foot) shipping and bottling facility in Cognac. The Pont Neuf facility will have a production capacity of about 10 million cases a year when it becomes operational, expected by 2017.

Source: Shanken News, Hennessy Cognac

WHISTLE PIG WHISKEY JOINS THE EXCLUSIVE CLUB OF SINGLE ESTATE SPIRIT COMPANIES

Yesterday, Whistle Pig Whiskey announced that their company was able to start harvesting crop for their distillation turning around the company into a so-called 'Single Estate Spirit' company, sort of like the wine is known to be.

https://youtu.be/iSn1NpQiU0g

This is a paradigm change in the spirits industry. Normally, the spirits are using glamorous brand names, an amazing story, a marketing budget, several celebrity endorsers in case one fails, they always do, a big corporation with lawyers and committee members, some large distributors with well paid employees dreaming of Fridays, and glossy magazine ads and billboards.

The craft spirits trend had made it difficult for the big corporations because it meant doing things slowly and small for the benefit of a more authentic product. They had gone around this with crafty paper and small batch numbers on the bottle labels. This was not enough so they started creating incubators where they could nurture and grow these small craft spirit companies under their roof and control what was going on.

Now, with 'Single Estate Spirits'!  A real nightmare for most large companies as they will need to get into this soon!

Whistle Pig Whiskey 13 YO

Whistle Pig Whiskey is one of the most iconic craft spirits brand in America and perhaps in the world. If this is what they do that means it is happening in the USA, but perhaps the US is not leading this one.

See in the UK how The Guardian reports the growth of Single Estate Spirit's companies with Chase and Arbikie leading the path.

———>FRENCH

La super super nouvelle tendance pour les 5 ans a venir dans le 'craft spirits' c'est le 'Single Estate Spirit'!

Hier Whistle Pig a annonce le lancement de son entreprise en format 'Single Estate Spirit'. Je viens de voir ca aujourd'hui.

http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2015/10/whistlepig-opens-grain-to-glass-farm-distillery/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233870

Whistle Pig fondee en 2007 par Raj Peter Bhakta est considère comme l'icône des craft spirits aux USA, et peu être dans le monde.

Raj Peter Bhakta annonce a tout le monde que le Single Estate Spirit est la meilleure façon de se développer.

Sources: The Spirits Business, Entrepreneur, The Guardian

WHY WOULD CEO DO SOCIAL MEDIA?

Chief executives are turning to social media more than ever and Pernod Ricard's is no different, with Alexandre Ricard looking to the medium to help align its corporate and consumer brands.

Ricard, who has set the company's agenda to get closer to people by tapping their digital behaviours, is part of a growing number of social chief executives. As of 2015 the number of chief executives of the world's top 50 companies on social media is still low at 28 per cent, according to Weber Shandwick's 'Socialising your CEO' audit. However, eight in 10 are now engaged online and via social media - a rate which has more than doubled since the audit started in 2010. The most popular social networks used by company bosses are LinkedIn (22 per cent) and Twitter (10 per cent), according to the study.

A stronger social media presence also chimes with Alexandre's bid to be a more consumer-focused business; meaning eventually it will be able to put a Pernod Ricard brand in any consumption occasion

Source: The Drum

MASS-PRODUCED SPIRITS VERSUS SINGLE ESTATE SPIRITS

Now consumers are increasingly questioning the origins of the ingredients found in mass-produced spirits and are looking at more craft spirits, in hope of finding more accountability and more sustainable solutions. Hence, "Demand for all things 'craft' and local has stretched beyond beer into spirits" says The Guardian.

While not officially defined by the industry, single-estate spirits - also known as "farm to bottle" spirits - are generally understood to be products created using most, if not all, ingredients sourced from a single area of land. The brands producing such spirits are unique in their decision not to use neutral grain spirit (NGS) to bump up volume - a regular occurrence at both large and small distilleries.

Single estate spirits, on the other hand, conduct almost all stages of production on site, including growing, fermenting, malting, distilling, maturing, bottling and labeling.

Typical brands of Single Estate Spirits include:

. Arbikie Highland Estate

. Chase Distillery

. Cognac Philbert

. Maison Monteru Single Grape Brandy

. Vestal Vodka

These brands represent an emerging category that focuses on provenance, a concept traditionally associated with wine.

Source: The Guardian

MARQUES DEL ATRIO IS NOW PART OF CHANGYU

Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co Ltd, a leading Chinese wine producer, has continued its overseas moves with the acquisition of Marques del Atrio, a wine company in Spain.

The acquisition follows Changyu's takeover of France-based Roullet-Fransac Cognac in 2013.

This acquisition will further strengthen Changyu's globalization strategy. Changyu is growing an international vision for the growth of its company. To compete internationally, Changyu needs to acquire an international portfolio of brands in order to respond to its market in China but also control some main regional growths where wine & spirits are culturally bound.

Spanish wine is not going anywhere and it is here to stay, hence a safe investment in the long run for Changyu. Since China is going to eventually need more of the same, it is wise for Changyu to gain access to its own stocks of wine & spirits to weather the storms.

Changyu's interim results showed that its sales revenue rose 22.8 percent year-on-year to reach 2.83 billion yuan ($443.8 million) in the first six months of this year.

According to the Hurun Most Valuable Chinese Brands 2015 list, Changyu remains the most valuable privately owned wine brand in China, with market value of about 6 billion yuan.

Source: China Daily

THE SKYROOM RESTAURANT OFFERS A FOUR COURSE DINNER PAIRING WITH COMANDON COGNAC

One of Southern California most prestigious restaurant, The Skyroom in Long Beach, will be offering a four course dinner pairing with Comandon Cognac this coming Friday October 23rd 2015.

Comandon Cognac Pairing Dinner at the Skyroom Restaurant in Southern California

Dinner pairings are not so common, but they are more common when pairing wines and dishes. In this case, the SkyRoom is leading the way by pairing multiple cognacs in a four course menu. The cognac selection will include Comandon VS and VSOP, and more interestingly a 2003 vintage single cask cognac from the Petite Champagne Appellation Controlee. This is a rare combination since there are not many vintages cognac and not many single cask cognac available that we know.

Seats are limited. Call 1 562 983 2703 to find out more and make your reservation.

Source: www.TheSkyRoom.com