USA: Beam Suntory expects better sales in second half of 2020

Beam Suntory, maker of Jim Beam bourbon and Courvoisier cognac, expects sales in the second half of this year to be better than in the first, when pandemic lockdowns curbed drinking around the world, its chief executive told Reuters.

Beam is hoping sales will be “flat, if not slightly positive in the second half potentially,” Albert Baladi said, while cautioning “it’s early days and it’s a very, very volatile environment.”

The company, a unit of Japan’s Suntory Holdings, posted a 3% sales decline in the first half. Baladi said July sales were up by a high single-digit rate, with gradual improvements in various parts of the world.

Baladi’s comments followed a company announcement that it had acquired On The Rocks, a U.S. brand of ready-made cocktails, and results from rivals Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard on September 2.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .