AlcBev in Five
AlcBev in Five is a daily five-minute brief covering the beer, wine, and spirits business. It highlights the five most important stories each weekday, including deals, brand moves, regulation, and category shifts. The podcast is curated for distillers, brewers, vintners, importers, distributors, and buyers who want to stay informed quickly.
Episodes
Scotland Demands England Whisky Reversal
Scottish minister urges reversal of English whisky protection. Scotland's Economy Secretary is pressing the UK Government to undo protected status for English whisky, a category-boundary call the trade will watch for labelling and export effects. (Diss Express)
South Australia announces $109m wine industry support package. The state Premier announced a reported $109 million package for grape and w
Sazerac Circles Berentzen as Canada Ban Nears
Berentzen confirms sale talks with Sazerac. The German distiller says it is in discussions over a potential sale to the US spirits group, a deal that would add a German base to Sazerac's European footprint. (Just Drinks, Brewbound, BevNET)
US to ban bottled Canadian alcohol from 29 September. Trump's import ban covers bottled and canned Canadian wine, beer and spirits but exempts some bulk wine, s
Trump Signs Canadian Alcohol Ban, Effective September 29
Trump order bans Canadian alcohol imports from Sept. 29. An executive order would halt U.S. imports of Canadian wine, spirits and beer within three weeks, per Shanken News Daily, leaving importers little time to adjust. (Shanken News Daily, The Drinks Business, mint)
NIQ: most top U.S. alcohol markets show declines. NielsenIQ's four-week read to August 29 shows most top-10 markets down in volume a
US Bans Canadian Alcohol Imports
US announces import ban on Canadian alcohol. The Trump administration has announced a ban on most Canadian alcoholic beverages, leaving importers and cross-border brands with immediate supply questions. (Drinks International, SouthAsianDaily.com, The Daily Star)
EU spirits exports fell 6% last year, Just Drinks reports. EU spirits export sales declined 6% in the past year under pressure in the US
Constellation Trades Expansion for Discipline
Constellation Brands signals shift from expansion to operating discipline. Constellation told investors at Barclays' consumer conference it is moving to a more operator-focused model, a signal for how it will fund pricing and portfolio spend into next year. (Investing.com)
Heineken reports stronger first-half volumes, uneven market conditions. Heineken used the same Barclays conference to describe
France's Thinnest Harvest in 30 Years
France heads for one of its smallest wine harvests in 30 years. Preliminary government figures point to a third constrained French vintage, tightening supply for anyone contracting French wine into 2027. (Just Drinks)
Circana scans show beer softness concentrated, not category-wide. Some leading beer brands posted a late-summer lift despite the category's slump, per Circana's latest weekly off-pre
Beer Supply Slips, India Says Old Monk Is Not Rum
Beer Institute: July U.S. beer supply down 4.9%. The Beer Institute reports July domestic beer supply fell 4.9% year over year despite peak summer occasions, with imports cited as the drag, a supply-side signal for inventory and import planning. (Brewbound)
FSSAI tells Bombay High Court Old Monk is not rum. India's food regulator told the Bombay High Court that Old Monk, made with neutral spirit a
Diageo Cuts 305 in New York
Diageo to cut about 300 jobs at North America HQ. Just Drinks reports Diageo is cutting roughly 300 roles at its New York headquarters, putting a figure on a turnaround the group has said it is pursuing. (Just Drinks)
Brown-Forman CEO says US business improving slowly. The outgoing Brown-Forman chief describes a gradual US recovery, a supplier-side read on American spirits demand tied to the group
Brown-Forman Slips, Hemp THC Gets a Month
Brown-Forman Reports Q1 FY27 Sales Down 1%. Brown-Forman reported a 1% net sales decline for the quarter ended July 31 and reaffirmed its full-year outlook, a signal of how a major supplier expects FY27 to trend. (Brown-Forman, Benzinga, Yahoo! Finance)
NIQ Data Shows Beverage Alcohol Sales Down 3%. NielsenIQ measured a 3% value and 5% volume decline in total beverage alcohol over four weeks, putt
Hemp Ban Slips to December, Castel Governance in Dispute
Congress delays federal hemp ban to December 11. A continuing resolution pushes the hemp ban deadline back a month, leaving beverage makers' inventory and shelf-space plans unsettled. (Brewbound, BevNet)
Castel family branches call for governance "stability". A statement attributed to the wine group's majority family branches makes a control dispute public, with counterparties downstream
RTDs Carry Spirits to 1 Percent
Impact Databank Projects 1% U.S. Spirits Volume Growth. Impact Databank expects U.S. spirits volumes to rise about 1% this year, with RTDs carrying the gain, a baseline for distributor and brand planning. (Shanken News Daily)
NBWA Beer Purchasers' Index Enters 'Cautionary' Mode. The August Beer Purchasers' Index, paired with out-of-code inventory risk, puts the industry in what NBWA calls a 'cauti
Europe's Barrel Overhang, and Pernod's Multiyear Warning
Tariffs, Softer Demand Squeeze European Distillers. The Wall Street Journal reports European distillers with heavy U.S. exposure face tariffs alongside weaker-than-planned global demand, a mismatch suppliers and distributors will price against. (The Wall Street Journal)
Pernod Ricard Reports Full-Year Sales Down 3.9%. Pernod Ricard posted organic full-year sales of €9.4 billion, down 3.9%, and its
Pernod Ricard's Third Straight Down Year, and the Merger That Isn't
Pernod Ricard pivots to RTDs as U.S. sales fall 14%. Pernod Ricard reported a 14 percent U.S. organic net sales decline and told investors it is leaning on ready-to-drink and smaller formats, the category leader's stated answer to a shrinking American market. (Brewbound, Shanken News Daily, The Manila times)
Brown-Forman, Pernod Ricard merger reported still off the table. Amid reported turmoil amo
Brown Family Letter Puts Numbers On It
Brown family letter criticizes Brown-Forman CEO. WDRB reports Brown-Forman heirs sent a seven-page letter faulting outgoing CEO Lawson Whiting, putting family shareholder pressure on a leadership transition. (WDRB, Paxton Media Group Kentucky Pub Group2)
US alcohol groups urge resumption of Canada tariff talks. Just Drinks reports American alcohol trade groups are pressing Washington and Ottawa to
Canada Tariff Hits, Brown-Forman Family Revolt
US imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian wine and spirits. Talks with Canada collapsed and a 50% duty on wine and spirits took effect, resetting landed cost for importers and buyers overnight. (Shanken News Daily, Drinks International)
US wine imports fell in first half of 2026. US customs data analysed by OIVE shows wine imports down in both value and volume, giving operators a pre-tariff demand baseli
Brown-Forman Family Letter, Diageo Cuts 1,922 Jobs
Bloomberg: Brown-Forman family members wrote to board. Bloomberg reports two members of the family controlling Brown-Forman put objections to management in writing after the Pernod Ricard talks ended, suggesting governance pressure outlasted the deal. (mint, Bloomberg Business)
Diageo discloses 1,922 job cuts over past year. Diageo's own disclosure shows a 6.4% headcount reduction, giving the trad
India's Spirits Sweep Reaches Pernod Ricard
India's food regulator samples liquor at Pernod plant. Reuters reports India's food-safety regulator inspected a Pernod Ricard factory and collected samples as part of a wider probe into the country's $40 billion liquor sector, putting compliance risk on the whole market, not one company. (Reuters, Market Screener, Yahoo News)
Carlsberg lifts profit outlook as Britvic synergies land early. Carlsbe
Cider Holds Its Growth, Pommery Secures Cash
Hard Cider Posts Year-Over-Year Gains, 3 Tier Reports. New 3 Tier Beverages data shows cider growing on singles, six-packs and national brands, a pack-and-brand read for buyers planning against a soft bev-alc quarter. (Brewbound)
Pommery Secures Cash Position; Henkell Exclusivity Ends Without Deal. Maison Pommery & Associés says financing talks concluded and its treasury is secured, while the
Diageo Fights India Rum Ban, Australia's Excise Steps Up
Diageo takes FSSAI rum ban to court. Diageo is challenging an Indian food-safety order against one of its rum brands, arguing the ban skipped due process, a procedural-risk marker for spirits brands selling into India. (Business Standard)
SIBA tracker reports slower UK brewery closures. SIBA's own Brewery Tracker says UK brewery closures slowed in the first half of 2026 versus 2025, an early read
Off-Premise Slides, Tequila Cools, Kentucky Draws a Second Bidder
Circana: Off-Premise Bev-Alc Dollar Sales Down 2.2%. Beer and wine losses again dragged weekly off-premise sales, per Circana data reported by Brewbound, a read on whether the slide holds through the summer window. (Brewbound)
Don Julio Sales Down 19%, Yahoo Finance Reports. A reported double-digit decline at one of tequila's anchor brands raises the question of whether the category's decade-long
Wholesalers Plan to Thin Craft, Beyoncé Buys Out LVMH
Tamarron Survey: Wholesalers May Cut Regional, Local Craft. Tamarron Consulting's annual survey of 170 wholesalers reports distributors may drop regional and local craft brands over the next year, a route-to-market signal for brewers heading into book negotiations. (Brewbound)
Beyoncé Buys Out LVMH Stake in SirDavis Whisky. LVMH confirmed Beyoncé has taken full ownership of SirDavis American Whisk
India seizes 18,000 boxes of Diageo bottles
India seizes Diageo liquor stock over packaging markings. Government sources tell Reuters inspectors seized roughly 18,000 boxes of Diageo bottles for allegedly missing safe-recycled-plastic markings, a compliance stop in one of the group's fastest-growing markets. (Reuters, News18, Business Standard)
Henkell talks to buy Maison Pommery end without deal. Just Drinks reports Henkell Freixenet's bid
Diageo Resets, Molson Coors Cuts 400 Jobs
Diageo Reports Sales Down 2%, U.S. Recovery Two Years Out. Diageo reported a 2% organic sales decline for its June fiscal year and placed a U.S. spirits recovery roughly two years out, a horizon suppliers and distributors can set forecasts against. (Shanken News Daily, Diageo)
Diageo Unveils $1 Billion Cost Plan, Backs RTDs and Guinness. CEO Dave Lewis announced a $1 billion cost-cutting program w
Heineken's Americas Problem, and India Widens Its Ban
Heineken Holding reports 2026 half-year results. Heineken Holding N.V. has filed its 2026 half-year results, the holding-company view of the brewer that group-level investors and analysts track. (Heineken Holding N.V., Taiwan News, FinanzNachrichten.de)
Heineken says Africa, Asia offset weaker Americas. CFO Harold van den Broek said emerging-market strength carried Heineken's first half while the
Scanner Uptick, RNDC's New York Handoff
Morgan Stanley reports improving U.S. spirits retail trends. Morgan Stanley says U.S. retail alcohol scans improved modestly in the four weeks to July 25, with spirits ahead of beer, though part of the lift is tied to a one-off event. (Investing.com)
Manhattan Beer takes on brands previously handled by RNDC New York. New York Wine & Spirits has acquired distribution rights to a portfolio forme
Diageo's Moët Hennessy Returns Halve as Highland Jobs Go at Risk
Diageo's income from Moët Hennessy tie-up fell sharply. Reported earnings from one of spirits' longest-running distribution partnerships dropped in fiscal 2025 versus 2023, putting a route-to-market pillar for two of the industry's largest groups under scrutiny. (London South East, Reuters, esmmagazine.com)
Union says Diageo distillery jobs at risk in Scotland. A local trade union reports hundreds
Flat Year, Barred Bottles, and a Spritz Fight
Control-State Spirits Flat Year-To-Date Despite June Gain. Shanken News Daily reports June volume ran 5% ahead of last year, yet control-state spirits sit at +0.1% YTD, a read on whether the category's slowdown is steadying. (Shanken News Daily, Just Drinks)
India Bars Some Diageo, Inbrew Whisky And Rum. India's food safety regulator ordered a stop-sale on certain United Spirits and Inbrew product
AB InBev Sets the Benchmark
AB InBev Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results. The world's largest brewer published its Q2 results, setting the volume and pricing benchmark other AlcBev prints this week get read against. (Anheuser-Busch InBev, Financial Post, The Montreal Gazette)
Ambev Beats on Profit, Misses on Revenue in Q2. Latin America's largest brewer topped earnings expectations while sales came in short, per its Q2 2026
Campari's Five-Quarter Run, and a Cognac Sell-Off
Campari reports fifth straight quarter of organic growth. Campari's H1 2026 presentation credits aperitif-led performance for margin expansion, giving operators a benchmark as the wider spirits category softens. (Investing.com)
Cobblestone Brands to buy Bisquit and Cabo Wabo. Campari has agreed to sell a Cognac and a tequila brand to a Dublin-based independent, per The Spirits Business, extending
Sazerac's $32 a Share, and RNDC Suppliers Last in Line
Report Details Terms of Sazerac's $15B Brown-Forman Bid. Forbes and other outlets report new detail on an unconfirmed $15 billion approach whose terms, if pursued, would redraw the American whiskey map. (Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, The Courier-Journal)
RNDC Files Chapter 11, Leaving Suppliers in Line. BevNET and Brewbound report the top-three distributor's bankruptcy filing puts suppliers already mont
Brown-Forman Rejects Sazerac Again, RNDC Files Chapter 11
Brown-Forman rejects Sazerac takeover proposal. Brown-Forman has turned down a fresh approach from fellow US distiller Sazerac, according to trade reports, leaving ownership of a major American whiskey portfolio an open question. (Just Drinks, Yahoo! Finance, Shanken News Daily)
RNDC files Chapter 11 as wind-down begins. Republic National Distributing Co. has filed for Chapter 11 in Texas after se
Scotch Regains Tariff-Free US Access as Sales Soften
US removes tariffs on Scotch whisky. The US has lifted its tariffs on Scotch whisky, which distillers say restores duty-free access to a top export market. (The Herald, Mirage News, gov.uk)
Spirits industry presses Trump for broader trade relief. Global spirits producers are urging the Trump administration to extend the Scotch tariff removal to other imported wines and spirits, Yahoo Finance repor
United Spirits Jumps 52%, Craft's Split Signal
United Spirits reports 52% quarterly profit rise. Diageo's India unit attributes its first-quarter profit jump to premium spirits demand, offering a read on whether India keeps offsetting softer markets elsewhere. (The Drinks Business)
Brewers Association: over half of craft brewers report growth. The trade group's mid-year report pairs positive brewer sentiment with an estimated 4% volume decline
Pernod's India Retreat, and Vodka's Shrinking Pool
Pernod Ricard Shifts Tactics in $314M India Tax Case. Pernod Ricard has withdrawn its court challenge to pursue an administrative appeal, a shift in a $314 million dispute testing how foreign spirits makers manage tax exposure in India's Scotch market. (Yahoo! Finance, ETCFO.com)
Leading Vodka Brands Compete for Share as U.S. Volumes Fall. U.S. vodka volumes slipped 3% to 71.7 million cases last y
A 50% Tariff Lands on Canadian Booze
Trump To Impose 50% Tariff On Canadian Goods. The administration plans a 50% levy on most Canadian imports in 30 days, a move that would raise landed costs for Canadian-sourced beverage alcohol. (Shanken News Daily, The Globe and Mail, dentons.com)
Off-Premise Alcohol Sales Fall 21% After July 4. Circana reports an expected post-holiday sales pullback, leaving year-over-year growth brands as the s
Scotch Under Scrutiny, and Spirits Go Small
MPs open inquiry into Scotch whisky industry. The Scottish Affairs Committee will examine how trade deals, tariffs and domestic policy affect Scotch, putting the category's regulatory exposure on the record. (The Spirits Business)
Bordeaux vineyard values fall as sales drop. Land prices across Bordeaux's leading appellations continue to slide and annual wine sales have reportedly fallen below thre
Royal Stag Tops Whisky, Bourbon Braces for Trade Talks
Royal Stag now world's top-selling whisky, Pernod says. Pernod Ricard's India CEO ties the brand's rise to a shifting market that increasingly shapes global category rankings. (Firstpost)
China alcohol group urges tighter online spirits rules. An industry body says existing e-commerce regulation lags platform growth, pointing to possible tighter oversight in a major market. (The Drinks Business)
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Australia's Smallest Crush in 25 Years
Australian wine harvest falls to 25-year low. Australia's 2026 crop hit a quarter-century low, yet grape prices kept falling, signalling a supply glut a smaller harvest hasn't cleared. (The Drinks Business, Just Drinks)
Fine wine market stabilised in H1 as US buyers returned. Liv-ex data cited by trade press frames renewed US buying as the swing factor steadying fine-wine prices while Asian demand
Spirits Pull Ahead, India Cuts Scotch Tariffs, RNDC Splits Again
NIQ On Premise data shows category divergence. NIQ's July 2026 on-premise analysis reports spirits extending their lead as beverage alcohol categories diverge, giving planners a fresh data reference. (BevNet, Brewbound)
UK-India trade agreement takes effect for Scotch. The UK-India free trade agreement comes into force today, and The Spirits Business reports Scotch producers are looking to capital
Brown-Forman Opens Its CEO Search
Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting to retire. The Jack Daniel's owner says its CEO will step down once a successor is named, putting a leadership transition in front of an American whiskey house working through soft US spirits demand. (The Spirits Business, Just Drinks, Just-Drinks)
IWSR research finds Gen Z drinks at population rate. New IWSR consumer data indicates Gen Z drinks at close to the same
Brown-Forman's Top Job Opens as RNDC Winds Down
Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting to step down. The Jack Daniel's maker's chief executive plans to depart, in a move the company frames as part of an effort to move past a slowdown in alcohol sales. (The Wall Street Journal, Market Screener)
RNDC wind-down disrupts spirits distribution. The near-complete unwinding of national distributor RNDC is rippling through the three-tier system, with suppliers
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