Jameson sales up 14%
Jameson volume sales in Ireland were up 6%.
Irish Distillers’ results for the financial year ending on the 30th of June show that despite the challenging environment, the business experienced a strong financial year driven by the growth of Jameson in existing, new and emerging markets around the world.
Jameson achieved strong sales in key markets such as the US and Russia (both up 19%), Poland (up 48%), Ukraine (up 43%), Germany (up 30%), Australia (up 15%) and the UK (up 10%). The US recorded sales of four million cases.
This helped cement the brand as one of the Top Five best-selling international whiskey brands in the world according to IWSR figures for 2020.
Jameson volume sales in Ireland were up 6%.
Worldwide, Irish Distillers’ prestige portfolio experienced 33% volume growth with all brands in double or triple-digit growth.
This helped contribute to parent company Pernod Ricard’s 10% organic sales growth (or up 5% reported).
Pernod Ricard sales
Sales for the Full Year ‘21 for the world’s second-largest spirits manufacturer totalled €8,8 billion, representing organic growth of 9.7%. Reported Sales growth was 4.5%, the difference being due to a significant adverse FX impact resulting from the US Dollar and emerging market currency depreciation vs the €uro.
Sales for the financial year grew in all regions, reported the company.
Europe, for example, received a “4% dynamic rebound with the UK, Germany and Eastern Europe offsetting declines in Spain, Ireland and Travel Retail”.
Irish Distillers’ portfolio, led by Jameson, demonstrated “incredible resistance” despite the difficult circumstances arising from the global pandemic, said Conor McQuaid, Irish Distillers’ Chairman and Chief Executive, “This was achieved despite the disruption to the hospitality sector in many markets throughout our financial year coupled with increasing input costs,” he continued.
“What is particularly exciting is the growth evident in emerging markets including Nigeria, India, Brazil, and China. This is the result of our strategy of ‘globalising’ the Jameson brand by focusing additional efforts on ‘non-traditional’ Irish whiskey markets.”
The global growth of Irish Distillers’ prestige portfolio reflects the increase in consumer appetite for Premium and Super-Premium Irish whiskeys, he added.
And while Global Travel Retail sales were heavily impacted by travel restrictions during the year, he’s confident that sales will return to pre-pandemic levels, “… although this may take some time”.
