- Closing quarter – to end of December – up 3.6% at MXN13.16bn (US$770.7m)
- For full-year 2023, sales rise 6.2% to MXN44.36bn ($2.6bn)
- Jose Cuervo stable dips 1.6% in 12-month period, ‘Other Spirits’ down 8.5%
The mid single-digit top-line showing from 2023 brings to an end the double-digit rises booked by the Jose Cuervo brand owner in recent years. The company, which is listed under the name Becle and also known as Cuervo, reported this week that the fourth quarter performed almost in line with Q3’s +4.3%, coming in up 3.6% on the corresponding three months in 2022.
Considering the 12 months as a whole, Proximo saw its flagship Jose Cuervo tequila portfolio slip by 1.6%, albeit in reported terms, which factor in the impact of currency exchange rates. Of the group’s other reporting divisions, ‘Other Tequilas’ was up almost 4%, while ‘Other Spirits’ – home to Bushmills Irish whiskey and spiced rum brand Kraken – saw reported sales decline by 8.5% in 2023.
In volumes terms, which in Proximo’s case provides a better indication of performance last year, Jose Cuervo and ‘Other Tequilas’ were both up, by 3.2% and 7.3%, respectively. ‘Other Spirits’, meanwhile, slipped 1.3%.
Proximo’s RTD stable delivered a sizable slump, of 23.5% in reported sales and of 14.3% in volumes. The group blamed the decline on a tough comparison from 2022 in the US & Canada, “as the region is lapping a one-time effect of the discontinuation of Playamar Hard Seltzer”.
“The slowdown in consumer demand for spirits across several markets indicates a return to historical trends after two years of exponential growth,” the company said. We anticipate cost tailwinds for the year [2024], deriving from supply chain pressures easing and lower input costs, resulting in margin expansion opportunity.
“Our strategic focus on premiumisation has enabled us to either maintain or increase our market share in most key markets, positioning us favourably to navigate and overcome current setbacks.”
Proximo claims to hold in the region of 30% share of the market for tequila globally. Combined, the company’s tequila and Irish whiskey businesses account for 73% of group sales.
The company is 87% owned by the Beckmann family, now in its 11th generation since founding Jose Cuervo in the late 1700s, with the remaining 13% publicly traded.
The tequila category generally, and Jose Cuervo in particular, benefitted massively from the cocktails-at-home trend that accelerated during the Covid-induced lockdowns of 2020. While the trend stuck over the subsequent two years, driven by US consumers’ appetite for the margarita serve, the top-line results from last year indicate a topping-out of sorts.
