Pernod Ricard has made a play for flavored whiskey by acquiring a majority stake in peanut butter flavored Skrewball whiskey, the company announced today.
The move comes as flavored whiskey develops into a fast growing segment, and recruits non-whiskey drinkers into the category. Sales were up by 14.6% over the last two years, compared to unflavored at 8.4%, according to Nielsen IQ data released in October 2022. Flavored whiskey is also tracking better against other flavored spirits: After a brief upturn in Q3 last year, ending data placed flavored spirits down -5.0%, but flavored whiskey continues to be a category growth driver (+4.1%), according to SipSource data.
Skrewball was founded by Steven and Brittany Yeng in 2018, and has quickly established itself as a leader in the segment. The company gained national distribution within a year of launching and has since expanded to Canada and the Caribbean. Named one of the fastest growing spirits brands by Forbes, it achieved a consumer retail growth rate of +1,976% in 2021, and surpassed a milestone of half-a-million nine-liter cases sold in 2022. It also added a 100ml can format last year.
“We are very excited to see what the future holds for this brand under Pernod Ricard,” Steven and Brittany Yeng said in a statement. “The engine behind the company – its strategy, global reach and brand building expertise – will greatly support in taking the brand to new heights and we are excited to see it soar.”
Over the next year the founders are focused on expanding brand awareness, Brittany Yeng said in an interview with BevNET earlier this month.
The brand will join Jameson Orange in Pernod Ricard’s flavored whiskey portfolio, which has served as an entry point for the Jameson franchise, said Alexandre Ricard, Pernod Ricard’s CEO, on a call following the company’s half-year financial results last month. He added that 50% of the spirit’s consumers were new to the category.
“The reality is that consumers want — absolutely want to see brands experiment with new flavors, new propositions, and then they like them or they don’t,” he said.
At a suggested retail price of $28 Skrewball is priced above other leading flavored whiskeys from major spirit companies, putting the deal in line with Pernod Ricard’s strategy to bolster its portfolio with premium, non-traditional challenger whiskey brands. The company went on a whiskey acquisitions streak when it brought TX, Smooth Ambler, and Rabbit Hole into its portfolio in 2019. It also purchased George Strait’s Codigo 1530 Tequila in October 2022.
The financial details of Skrewball deal were not disclosed.