Category: Articles

Diageo appoints Debra Crew as its first female CEO

British multinational premium drinks giant Diageo has just appointed Debra Crew as CEO, one of few women to lead a FTSE 100 company.

Diageo announced that Sir Ivan Menezes would step down on June 30th after 10 years as chief executive and is promoting its current chief operating officer Debra Crew to chief executive officer effective 1 July 2023.

The company employs 28,000 people globally and sells over 200 brands in more than 180 markets. It is also the largest company, by net sales value, in scotch and Canadian whisky, vodka, gin, rum, liquors and tequila.

Only eight of the UK’s top 100 listed companies have a female chief executive, which include: Dame Alison Rose at NatWest, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, Dame Emma Walmsley at GSK, Jette Nygaard-Andersen at Entain, Liv Garfield at Severn Trent, Jennie Daly at Taylor Wimpey, Margherita Della Valle at Vodafone – who is interim chief executive – and Milena Mondini de Focatiis at Admiral.

Before being appointed chief operating officer in October 2022, Crew ran Diageo’s business in North America, its largest market. She joined the company in 2019 and previously headed the tobacco firm Reynolds American until it was acquired by BAT. Before that, she spent five years at PepsiCo and worked at Kraft Foods, Nestlé and Mars.

 

The Think Tank on Talent in Wine Tourism – Part I

The Think Tank on Talent in Wine Tourism took place March 23 and 24 2023, ahead of the 7th UNWTO World Conference on Wine Tourism, November 2023 in La Rioja, Spain.

The overall objective was to address the current situation of wine tourism training at the international level and to identify the specific training needs to respond to the demands of the sector in the coming years.

The Think Tank was Jointly organized by the Government of La Rioja and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Spain, in collaboration with the World Tourism Organization.  The Think Tank’s 2-day event: the first day was a closed meeting with key relevant experts in the sector, as well as representatives from wine tourism territories from around the world; and the second day was a series of sessions open to the public.

Here is day two of the programme:

  • 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism presentation – Maria Soledad Gaido, Technical Coordinator, Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness, UNWTO
  • Enorregion Strategic Project Presentation – María Jesús Miñana, General Director of Agriculture and Livestock, Government of La Rioja; Pilar Vargas, General Director of the University and Scientific Policy, Government of La Rioja; and Ramiro Gil, General Director of Tourism, Government of La Rioja
  • Introduction to Wine Tourism Training

Panel 1. Origin – Wine Tourism and Training Resources

Rainer Brusis, Director, Innovation Management

Marianna Sigala, Director, Centre for Tourism and Leisure Management (CTLM), University of South Australia (Australia)

Gergely Szonloki, professor of Market Research, Geisenheim
University / Member of the OIV/UNWTO Working Group (Germany)

Panel 2. Destination – Wine Tourism Prospects and Future Profesional Skills

Manuel Romero, Director, Dinamiza Asesores

Claudio Cilveti, President, Enoturismo Chile

Catherine Leparmentier, Managing Director, Great Wine Capitals
Global Network / Oenotourisme et Réseaux Internationaux,Chamber of Commerce And Industries (France)

Niklas Ridoff, CEO, WineTourism.com (Sweden)

Tamuna Kakhidze, Chief specialist, Department of Tourism
Product and Infrastructure Development, Georgian National
Tourism Administration (Georgina)

Panel 3. Action plan – Challenges of Wine Tourism Training

Eduardo Fonseca, Vice Chancellor for Research and Internationalization, Universidad de La Rioja

Eduardo de Diego, Director of Communication and Head of International Relations, Federación Española del Vino

Paula Sousa, Wine Tourism Consultant, Lisbon School of
Economics & Management (Portugal)

Mariette Du Toit-Helmbold, Chief Destineer, Destinate (South Africa)

Watch this space for Part 11 which will include new ideas and solutions the panel members have come up with, and published via report and/or research in the near future.

New Index “WB Stock Index (WBIX)” Tracks Performance of Public Wine Companies

A new tool rooted in publicly traded wine companies and offering insights into the health of the wine sector has launched on winebusiness.com.

The WB Stock Index (WBIX) is a composite metric representing a portfolio of 13 publicly traded wine companies, weighted by each company’s annual wine revenue. The index reflects the daily percentage change in stock price at the end of the previous business day according to the significance of each producer in the marketplace.

The baseline for the index is Jan. 1, 2020, a time of strong performance by other indices and well before the onset of pandemic disruptions. The index stood at 119.02 as of March 1, indicating that publicly traded vintners have seen fortunes strengthen during the pandemic. The market’s confidence in the sector as a whole remains high. The index is intended to provide a snapshot in time and help benchmark a company’s performance against its peers. Performance can vary depending on the interval chosen, meaning a comparison across several intervals can be helpful.

Some of the strongest performers have been the luxury wine companies LVMH and Pernod Ricard, which have both performed well as aspirational and discretionary spending remained strong over the past year. LVMH’s share price has increased 28% over the past year to $170.45 while Pernod Ricard’s increased 3% to $42.22. The gains continued in the latest three months, with LVMH up 14% and Pernod Ricard up 7%, underscoring the long-term momentum underpinning each company.

The least fortunate company among those tracked by the index has been Vintage Wine Estates, which has seen its share price fall 83% versus a year ago to $1.39, with much of the slide registered in the past three months after the company restated earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2023, released preliminary numbers for the second quarter that projected lower than expected revenue and gross margins for the year, and withdrew guidance on expectations for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The company also made a change at CEO with founding partner Pat Roney moving to the role of executive chairman and Director Jon Moramarco assuming the role of interim CEO. Moramarco is also the editor of the Gomberg Fredrikson Report and founder of bw166. On March 10, the company announced it had sold a 42-acre vineyard in Napa Valley for $11 million to reduce its overall debt. Following the sale, Vintage reported it owns approximately 1,600 acres of vineyards and leases an additional 800 acres.

Vintage is significant enough to influence the index but not sway it. Two of the largest components are instead LVMH and domestic vintner Constellation Brands, which has increased 2% over the past year but fallen 11% in the latest three months as its most recent earnings report underwhelmed the investment community. This is in line with the challenges other public companies have seen.

While a value decline can indicate a lack of confidence by the markets, it also creates a buying opportunity for long-term investors. The Duckhorn Portfolio, for example, has underperformed the index with a 19% drop in its share price over the past year. Currently trading in the range of $14.99, its shares have ranged between $12.64 and $22.29 over the past 52 weeks. Despite a lower price, several analysts have maintained a buy rating on the stock, an expectation that its share price will increase and reward investors. Bank of America analysts are among them, while Barclays upgraded its rating on the stock because of its latest earnings report.

This is in contrast with response to shifts in Vintage’s stock price, where sentiment has shifted in favor of “sell” from a uniform “buy” rating a year ago. Canaccord Genuity Group is among the bears, noting that it had more questions than answers about the company’s financials and future.

When it comes to public perception, however, the market is largely in favor of the wine sector. WBIX has outperformed the S&P 500, rising nearly 4% over the past year as the S&P 500 fell nearly 7%. The latest three months have seen it increase 2%, or twice the growth posted by the S&P 500.

Link to Index:  https://www.winebusiness.com/finance/wbix

Source:  Wine Business

 

Blind Horse Winery Releases NFT-labelled Wine

In collaboration with VaporFi, Blind Horse Winery, has just released its first NFT-labelled wine specifically for collectors.

The Wisconsin-based winery has produced a collector’s edition 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon featuring a non fungigle token label from the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection.

The Bored Ape label was acquired by VaporFi in 2022 and licensed exclusively to Blind Horse Winery primarily for the release. A partnership between The Blind Horse Winery, and VaporFi was formed in March 2022, to bridge the gap between cryptocurrency and traditional wine business sectors.

Tom Nye, Winemaker and General Manager states: “It’s a product that is designed for crypto and wine enthusiasts, and for me, it’s the centrepiece of my collection. If you’re into cryptocurrency, you know the significance of the Bored Apes and that it set off the non-fungible token craze.”

Tom Nye further states: “When it’s gone, it’s gone,” but hastened to add that the item should serve as a talking point and assist in bringing people together,” And, “Wine is really beautiful by itself, but what makes it even better is everything else that goes along with it, which is food, friends, and family.”

The wine, which will retail at US$100, is representative of the traditional and digital worlds and features a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot that has been aged for three years in French and American oak. The NFT-labelled wine is also limited to 200 bottles and is set to target wine and crypto enthusiasts who want to secure a piece of history.

 

 

Wine in Moderation is releasing a “Responsible Service Training Tool”

Wine in Moderation will be releasing a “responsible service training tool” in the next few months to educate wine professionals around the world.

This new educational tool is the result of two years of work, which aims at empowering wine professionals around the world with responsible and moderate consumption patterns.

“We believe that all representatives of the wine sector – in every region and at every step of the value chain – have a role to play in finding the best ways to communicate about the value of moderation and to contribute to the reduction of harm due to abusive and hazardous drinking” – said Sandro Sartor, President of Wine in Moderation. “The education and training of professionals is therefore key to empower them with the necessary knowledge and tools to talk about responsible consumption patterns and encourage moderate consumption habits “.

As the international program of the wine sector, Wine in Moderation has thus developed training that will be available in different formats (face-to-face and digital) and will be adapted to the cultural needs and national legislation of every country, ensuring the best possible implementation.

“Every module will aim to tackle a specific subject that is considered of crucial importance when it comes to the sustainability of the wine sector (i.e., wine/alcoholic beverages and health, legal framework, good practices, Responsible Communication, etc.)” says Nadia Frittella, Secretary General of the WiM Association. “Our goal is to give professionals all the tools they need to offer their customers a responsible wine experience and we are thrilled to say that the training was also very well received by important actors of the sector such as former WSET CEO Ian Harris.”

“I am delighted to endorse the excellent “Wine for Professionals: from responsible service to sustainable consumption” program produced by Wine in Moderation. With 45 years of experience in the industry and until recently CEO of WSET, I am convinced that this is a program that is long overdue and should form a key pillar in the strategy of any company or organization passionate about ensuring the sustainability of wine. With 20 years of experience at WSET, the biggest global provider of education and qualifications in the wine and spirits industries, I have been impressed with the academic rigor which has gone into the creation of this initiative, and I look forward to witnessing – and celebrating – the success of the program.” Ian Harris – former CEO of WSET

In addition to the launch of the Responsible Service Training, Wine in Moderation has signed a 3-year partnership with ProWein. Wine in Moderation, as the international program for the wine sector, and ProWein, as one of the leading trade fairs for wine and spirits, will work together to raise awareness about the importance of moderation. Both parties are committed to making this partnership a long-lasting one and hope to continue working together towards a sustainable future for the wine sector.

“We are delighted to be able to offer a global platform for Wine in Moderation with ProWein. This initiative is so infinitely important for consumers on the one hand and the entire wine and spirits industry on the other. We are fully behind Wine in Moderation and will do everything in our power to support the initiative,”. Peter Schmitz – Project Director ProWein.