The top growth beer brand in the on- and off-premise right now isn’t an innovation product designed by an R&D team that religiously studies consumer trends. It’s a non-Mexican import that was founded in the 18th century: Diageo-owned Guinness.
Diageo has tapped Sir Dave Lewis to lead the Guinness parent into its next chapter, ending a months-long search following former CEO Debra Crew’s departure in July.
Diageo CEO Debra Crew has stepped down after two tough years on the job, as the spirits giant struggles with slowing sales and tariff uncertainty.
Few were immune to beer’s tough March, even the country’s largest beer vendors, according to the latest monthly report from market research firm Circana.
A stockholder of flavored tequila 21Seeds is suing its parent company Diageo for obscuring plans to develop a competing product in the category, while undermining 21Seed’s ability to reach the sales goals tied to its earn-out targets.
Diageo is teaming up with consulting and investment firm Main Street Advisors for a strategic joint venture that swaps out the spirits giant’s majority ownership of Cîroc Vodka in North America for a majority stake in basketball legend Lebron James-backed Lobos 1707 Tequila.
2025’s drinking occasions just can’t hold a candle to 2024, it seems. In the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day (week ending March 16), off-premise bev-alc sales recorded a -3.9% decline year-over-year (YoY), market research firm Circana reported in its newest batch of weekly data. Holiday shopping delivered a +5% increase week-over-week (WoW).
After more than a decade of investing in emerging spirits and adult non-alc brands, Diageo confirmed earlier this month that its venture arm Distill Ventures will cease bringing new brands into its portfolio. What does the wind-down signal for the spirits group and does it say something about the larger spirits industry?
Spirit suppliers got a brief reprieve when President Donald Trump delayed tariffs with Mexico and Canada on Monday, but the threat of a trade war has still hampered the growth outlook for one of the industry’s biggest players. Meanwhile, Guinness continues to be a bright spot in Diageo’s portfolio, achieving its eighth consecutive half of double-digit growth, delivering +17% organic net sales growth in the period.
Marking its first annual sales loss since 2020, Diageo reported a -1.4% decline in net sales for fiscal year 2024 during its earnings call Tuesday morning.
Beer had an expected St. Patrick’s Day boost, with dollar sales in Circana-tracked off-premise channels increasing +5.3% year-over-year (YoY) in the week ending March 17, according to the market research firm.
In the latest installment of Brewbound’s A Round With – a weekly Insider-exclusive Q&A series with industry leaders – Katie Beal Brown chats about the rollercoaster ride of turning a cherished family cocktail recipe into a nationally distributed, ready-to-drink product … and kicking off right before the pandemic turned the bev-alc world upside down.
Industry executives gathered for Beer Business Daily’s annual Beer Industry Summit in Coronado, California, earlier this week. New Belgium continued to dominate craft scans in 2023, led by its Voodoo Ranger brand family, which claimed six spots in Circana’s list of the top 30 craft brands by dollar sales in tracked off-premise channels. As the company faces the comps – including multiple double-digit gains – New Belgium will not rest on its laurels, new CEO Shaun Belongie said on stage Sunday.
After nearly nine months of an ugly public legal battle, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Diageo have settled disputes over allegations from the music mogul that the brands he collaborated with Diageo on— Cîroc Vodka and DeLeon Tequila— received worse treatment because of his race.
