This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Top 10
SB’s most-read stories from February
In the four-week month of February, headlines were dominated by tariff woes, sales results and business growth plans, with several new releases and emerging trends thrown in, too.
Despite being the shortest month of the year, February sure did bring value for money in terms of big news stories. Despite one headline making its second consecutive appearance in our most-read list, and one drinks giant claiming three of the top 10 spaces, this month’s countdown still has a bit of everything, showing our readers are keen to devour news from all corners of the drinks industry.
Keep scrolling to find out what grabbed the attention of our readership last month.
Diageo goes ‘back to basics’ with Casamigos
We kick off our most-read list this month with the news that drinks behemoth Diageo is planning to take a ‘back to basics’ approach for its Tequila brand Casamigos, after it saw a double-digit sales drop in its half-year sales report.
Speaking at a briefing in London last month, CEO Debra Crew highlighted that Casamigos has been one of the fastest-growing spirits brands in the past five years, with double-digit growth rates between 2019 and 2022. It was even named Supreme Brand Champion in The Spirits Business’ Brand Champions 2022 report.
However, as the company has struggled to keep up with supply, growth has fallen. But, Crew says to mitigate this and drive brand awareness, the company will launch a new Casamigos campaign next month, details of which are currently under wraps.
Canadian provinces pull US products
Canada played the reverse Uno card on the US last month in response to president Donald Trump’s decision to apply tariffs on its products.
When Trump confirmed 25% tariffs would be applied to Mexican and Canadian goods being imported into America, Ontario premier Doug Ford threatened to “clear off every bit of US alcohol off the shelves”. In a statement on X on 2 February, Ford said: “Every year, LCBO [Liquor Control Board of Ontario] sells nearly US$1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore.”
The LCBO confirmed the Ontario government had directed it to remove all US alcohol products both in store and online, as well as ceasing wholesale sales to restaurants, bars, grocery, and other retailers. Meanwhile, in British Columbia, premier David Eby asked the BC Liquor Distribution Branch to immediately stop buying American liquor from “red states” and remove the top-selling “red-state” brands from its shelves.
The Macallan Folio 8 arrives in the US
Is it possible for The Macallan to do anything without ending up on one of our most-read lists? So far, it would appear not.
This month, it was the Edrington-owned brand’s announcement that it was launching the latest expression in its Archival Series, called Folio 8, and the news that it was going to be made available in the US for the first time, that captured our readers’ attention.
The series, which first launched in 2015, pays tribute to the Scotch whisky’s famed advertising campaigns from the 1980s and 1990s. For this latest release, the brand’s ‘The Colossus of Nose’ billboard from the 80s was the inspiration.
Diageo to shut Indian plant after 160 years
On 5 February, the Indian arm of Diageo, United Spirits, revealed it will close its 160-year-old manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, Telangana, due to ‘evolving market dynamics and ageing infrastructure’. Then, on 8 February, United Spirits released another statement to address the media reports surrounding the closure of the plant.
The company set 31 July 2025 as its estimated date of closure for the facility, subject to statutory approvals.
Campari considers axing jobs
Following in the footsteps of fellow drinks group Brown-Forman, Italian firm Campari announced it would be moving forward with restructuring plans following disappointing sales results in its third quarter (Q3), in which the Aperol maker announced it would ‘accelerate’ its portfolio streamlining by disposing of ‘non-core brands’.
It was Italian newspaper MF that reported on 20 February that the firm planned to cut 500 jobs, but while a spokesperson for Campari cited the measures previously announced in the Q3 results, they did not comment on the figure given by MF.
Royal Salute unveils Lunar New Year edition
Despite Lunar New Year taking place at the end of January, and this story featuring in last month’s most-read list, the news of Royal Salute’s special edition gift pack celebrating the Year of the Snake continued to receive clicks last month, making it the sixth most-read story of February – one up from January’s list!
Fawn Weaver: ‘Stop saying the spirits industry is in decline – it’s not’
One thing we love about Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey founder Fawn Weaver is she is not afraid to speak her mind, as evidenced in her exclusive online op-ed that we published last month.
In the piece, Weaver pointed out that recent headlines have claimed the spirits industry is in trouble. However, the whiskey CEO was inclined to strongly disagree, stating that temporary market corrections following the Covid-19 pandemic are not signs of permanent decline, but rather a return to normalcy.
Australia’s Northern Territory scraps MUP
The passing of legislation formally repealing the minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol in Australia’s Northern Territory was big news in February.
The MUP (also known as the alcohol floor price) of AU$1.30 per standard drink on all alcohol products was introduced in 2018 in a bid to minimise harm associated with high-ABV, low-cost beverages, but since its implementation, it had faced backlash on account of its ‘ineffectiveness in addressing alcohol-related harm’ and for ‘unfairly targeting’ responsible drinkers.
Michael Waters, CEO of Retail Drinks Australia, praised the government’s U-turn, and said: “The failure of the floor price to positively impact alcohol-related harm was the result of retail sales shifting to products unaffected by the floor price, which resulted in its own unintended consequences. In repealing the MUP, the NT government has demonstrated its commitment to enacting common sense and evidence-based policy measures.”
Diageo to build $415m Alabama plant
Taking the second most-read spot on our list this month is the news that Diageo plans to open a US$415 million manufacturing and warehousing facility in Alabama, US, which will be fully operational later this year.
The 360,000-square-foot site in Montgomery will have a multi-million case annual production capacity for Diageo’s alcohol portfolio. Furthermore, the new facility will enhance the company’s North America supply chain operations and support future export growth.
The cocktail coming for Espresso’s Martini’s crown
The number one most-read story on The Spirits Business online in February is our dive into the growing popularity of the Carajillo – a two-ingredient drink consisting of espresso and Spanish liqueur Licor 43 – that is beginning to make waves in the US.
According to Google’s top trending searches of 2024, the Carajillo cocktail saw high spikes in traffic over a sustained period of the year, placing seventh in the list, while the Espresso Martini did not feature at all.
But we found that this is a trend that has been bubbling under the surface for a while now. In fact, in Yelp’s Food Trend Report, published at the end of 2023, it was revealed that searches for the serve skyrocketed by 118% that year, and according to data by Glimpse, interest in the Carajillo grew by 5% over the past year, with approximately 382,000 online searches per month as of December 2024.
Are Espresso Martini’s days numbered? Time will tell.
Related news
Diageo: India Rare Spirits presents ‘infinite possibilities’