Yellowstone bourbon owner MGP Ingredients has taken on its new guise as Sempreon, preceding the move last week by reporting a 10% fall in third-quarter sales.
The Kansas-headquartered group, which comprises ‘branded spirits’, ‘distilling solutions’ and ‘ingredient solutions’ divisions, has delivered on the pledge made last month to change its name, officially becoming Sempreon today (2 November). The new identity combines the Latin for ‘always’ and the Greek for ‘eternity’ and has been designed in order to “reflect our commitment to honouring our history while continuing to grow and adapt”.
Preceding today’s switch was the release last week of results from the three months to the end of September. A 10% decline in total sales, coming in at US$117.9m, was due primarily to a 29% top-line tumble from the ‘distilling solutions’ unit (to $29m), which provides production operations for third-party companies. In recognising the current “challenging industry conditions” for distilling spirits in the US, Sempreon also noted the market’s “oversupplied” status. On the plus side, the division has grown its sales of RTDs, although more specific details were not disclosed.
Over at ‘branded spirits’, sales slipped by 4% to $58.2m. A further breakdown of the unit’s performance saw its ‘premium’ sales dip 1% as “key brands improved as focus on growth opportunities continued to gain traction”. ‘Mid/Value’ branded spirits posted a 1% lift, although ‘Other’ tumbled by 46% (albeit to only $3.1m from $5.6m).
“Our third quarter results show that we are doing what we said we would do,” said CEO Julie Francis, who assumed her current position in July last year. “Our … adjusted EBITDA, adjusted basic EPS and ending net leverage each came in better than our expectations. In ‘branded spirits’, Penelope Bourbon sales grew 12% and our mid-priced brands grew 6%. ‘Distilling solutions’ continued to navigate an oversupplied market and ‘ingredient solutions’ grew sales by 5%.
“As we become Sempreon … , our focus remains on executing our strategic roadmap in each of our three businesses, supported by our financial discipline and our strong right to win.”
For the year to date, Sempreon’s sales were down 12.4% at $348.7m. The group forecasts sales for full-year 2026 of between $480m and $500m, the upper end of which would represent a 6.8% fall on 2025’s top line total.
