At the end of last month, Diageo reported its sales from the second half of calendar 2023. The group, which has been battling overstock issues in its ‘Latin America & Caribbean’ reporting region in recent months, was followed two weeks later by spirits rival Pernod Ricard.
Both brand owners finished the period down in sales terms, although the pair expressed optimism for the current half year.
Global Drinks Intel investigates how the rivals’ brands stack up on a by-category basis.
Both Beefeater and Tanqueray declined in value sales terms in the half-year, yet the duo also saw their volumes fall to greater extents (-13% and -12%, respectively). Beefeater, therefore, appears to have had greater success in the six months at pushing gin’s premiumisation button, although the pair could justifiably be described as being neck and neck as they enter their owners’ fiscal second half, to the end of June.
The first major divergence between Diageo and Pernod Ricard appears in rum, as Havana Club was one of only three of Pernod Ricard’s ‘headline brands’ to report a lift in sales. More notable was the Cuban rum’s 19% volumes tumble – the starkest fall of its owner’s 13 top brands.
For Diageo, Captain Morgan’s 3% dip was roughly the average for its ‘key brands’ sales performance in fiscal H1, although the captain has not been one of Diageo’s more consistent marks for a while. Kudos, then, goes to Cuba.
Chivas and Johnnie Walker are both crucial brands for their respective owners, squaring up to each other in several markets such as China and the US, as well as most snugly on the finite shelves of the global travel retail channel. The duo both declined by mid single digits in the half-year.
Pernod’s Chivas sneaks this race, however, again thanks to its sales showing compared to volumes: The mark saw its volumes drop by 15% while Walker’s -7% was not too far from its value performance.
Royal Salute topped the tree for Pernod Ricard, although this is likely to have more to do with weaker comparisons a year earlier for the GTR-focussed upper-high-end blend.
Single malt scotch is a tougher nut to crack, given that Diageo groups its brands into one line of its financial results – a fair move, considering there are so many of them. Evenso, a double-digit sales decrease will be giving the company cause for concern, particularly as combined volumes slipped by a lesser 6%. After all, single malt is where the scotch category can reliably look for value growth, no?
Over at Pernod Ricard, The Glenlivet’s -5% value/-14% volumes augurs well for the brand’s price positioning going forward.
We finish in vodka and one of the tastiest match-ups to keep an eye on. Absolut and Smirnoff cross swords virtually everywhere and their half-year figures are near-identical (volumes of -10% and -8%, respectively). The battle to be the vodka of choice on the world’s cocktail scene is the biggest ticket on the Diageo versus Pernod Ricard fight card.
Round two of fiscal 2024 has started.
