Take a look below for the rest of Global Drinks Intel’s review of the last 12 months
The occasion of August’s fiscal full-year results announcement afforded Global Drinks Intel editor Olly Wehring the chance – for one last time – to speak to Treasury Wine Estates CEO Tim Ford, not only about the company’s latest figures but also about his five years at the helm, which drew to a close in September.
In late April, Rabobank published a research note into today’s younger LDA consumers and their relationship with alcohol. The report, ‘The Real Reasons Generation Z is Drinking Less Alcohol’, was deemed so important by the research group to be made available free of charge. Shortly afterwards, the note’s author, VP of beverage research Bourcard Nesin, sat down with Olly to share more about his findings.
The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association has been around since 1938, yet the organisation, which represents the control state systems in the US, has kept itself out of the limelight. In a rare interview, CEO Neal Insley detailed what the association does, why, and who for.
Fawn Weaver founded the Uncle Nearest American whiskey brand with her husband, Keith, in 2017. The brand is named after Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green, who was born into slavery in the US in around 1820 and went on to become the master distiller at Jack Daniel Distillery in Tennessee. Prior to seeing the business take a colourful turn in August, Weaver sat down with Olly in March to tell the remarkable story of both Nearest Green and Uncle Nearest.
In March, Carlsberg rekindled its marketing partnership with European football’s governing body, UEFA. Throw in the longstanding relationship with Liverpool FC, and Carlsberg could be not-unfairly accused of being football crazy. The same, however, cannot be said of the group’s global sponsorship director, Louise Bach, who met up with Olly in Copenhagen late last month.
Despite its size, The Wine Group has traditionally been one of the quieter brand owners in the category. Earlier this year, however, the company hit the headlines when it bought a slew of brands and assets from Constellation Brands. Olly caught up with CEO John Sutton in August to hear more about the acquisition as well as The Wine Group’s subsequently-updated aspirations.
In March, Dolph Lundgren unveiled his own vodka brand, Hard Cut. Ahead of his appearance at the Bar Convent Brooklyn trade show in New York three months later, Olly quizzed the Swedish actor about his involvement in the latest celebrity brand to hit the spirits shelves.
In the same month that Heineken opened an “experimental” area for visitors to the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, Jules Macken, the global innovation director for the group’s flagship brand, led Olly through the company’s NPD process.
September saw Suntory Global Spirits secure ‘official spirits partner’ status for its Jim Beam flagship with the newly-founded Cadillac Formula 1 Team. Shortly afterwards, Rashidi Hodari, the MD of the group’s James B Beam Distilling Co unit, explained the rationale behind the high-profile tie-up.
At the Wine Paris trade show in February, Ananda Roy opened proceedings with a presentation; ‘Wine & Spirits – New Horizons in a Changing World’. Following his time on stage, Olly sat down with the VP of global thought leadership & strategic insights at Circana to hear more of his thoughts on the future for beverage alcohol.
In October, Campari Group reported a 4.4% increase in third-quarter sales, contributing to a top-line lift of 1.5% from the year-to-date. Olly collared CEO Simon Hunt on the day of the announcement for a deeper dive into the Aperol owner’s performance so far in 2025.
Tim Ovadia had a lot on his plate this summer. In July, the global VP of Stella Artois at AB InBev was in London not only for the Wimbledon tennis championship – the brand is the tournament’s ‘official beer partner’ – he was also in the UK capital for the closing stages of this year’s ‘Perfect Serve’ bartender-focused competition.
A lot has changed at Pernod Ricard since Mathieu Deslandes joined the brand owner in the 1990s. The biggest change to impact the group’s global innovation director directly was 2023’s structural redraw away from its historical regional approach. Speaking to Olly in August, Deslandes explained how the new strategy works.
In 2015, Ben Branson created Seedlip, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits brand. Within a year, he’d secured investment from the Diageo-backed business accelerator, Distill Ventures. Then, in 2019, Diageo acquired majority control of the brand with Branson remaining on board as a minority stakeholder. Since then, he’s been busy with Pollen Projects, a “venture studio dedicated to the non-alcoholic category”. Olly spoke to Branson in early January about both Seedlip and Pollen Projects, as well as the latter’s debut pair of releases.
Diageo marked the start of the second season of Guinness’ tie-up with the English Premier League in August with a worldwide marketing activation. Shortly afterwards, Olly had a call with the brand’s global sports partnerships marketing director, Somnath Dasgupta, to get the lowdown on the sponsorship arrangement.
