Alexandre Ricard reaches out to employees after Paris attacks

Alexandre Ricard, CEO of French drinks group Pernod Ricard, has published a letter to the group’s employees and affiliates condemning last week’s terror attacks in Paris, which claimed the lives of 129 people.

See the letter published in full below

Dear colleagues, friends,

The attacks that struck at the heart of Paris have also struck each and every one of us. While our Parisian affiliates have reported that no Pernod Ricard colleagues, nor their family members, were among the victims of these atrocities, our hearts and thoughts go out to everyone who has been touched by these acts of the utmost barbarity – to the dead and the wounded, and to their loved ones. 

The victims of this outrage were simply out having a drink on a pavement terrace or going to a concert; enjoying time with family or friends. We all know, perhaps better than most, what these moments of joy, of celebration and of sharing mean: they are our raison d’être, our purpose. It’s this connection, this bond, that terrorists want to destroy. And it’s this same bond that we’ll continue to protect and preserve with our consumers and our clients, bartenders and restaurateurs, both in France and around the world. 

It’s in times like these that our values assume even more meaning: reaching out to others and embracing our differences. Making a new friend every day. Let’s not give in to the temptation to turn in on ourselves, to give in to withdrawal and mistrust. Our method of fighting back is both the easiest but at the same time the most difficult: it is to keep on living, together.

In the words of Martin Luther King, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only Light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only Love can do that.”

Now however is a time of mourning and should you wish to do so, you may of course join in the national minute of silence that will be held in remembrance of the victims. Your affiliates will inform you of local arrangements as soon as they’re confirmed.

Once again, all our thoughts go out to the victims and their families.

Alexandre