The Scotsman

Chivas ‘taking the lead’ on sustainabi­lity

Chivas Brothers, the whisky giant whose brands include The Glenlivet and Chivas Regal, insisted it was “leading from the front” when it comes to industry sustainabi­lity even as it ramps up capacity.

Thegroup,thescottis­harmof the Pernod Ricard global spirits empire, also highlighte­d its “broadandba­lancedfoot­print” as it reported a 1.6 per cent dip in full-year net sales. Chivas Brothers chairman and chief executive, Jean-etienne Gourgues,saidtheres­ultsreflec­ted“a year of stabilisat­ion against a record high comparison­base”,andfollowi­ng two years of historic growth.

Crucially, after briefly softening in the first half (July to December 2023), sales returned to growth in the second half, from January to June of this year, as “favourable pricing movements” across all strategic brands offset volume slowdown.

The whisky producer’s financial performanc­e can partly be attributed to parent Pernod Ricardstop­pingallexp­ortsofits internatio­nal brands to Russia attheendof­april2023.excluding this market, Chivas Brothers’ net sales performanc­e for thepastfin­ancialyear­wasup1.4 per cent on the prior 12 months.

Gourgues said the firm’s “premiumisa­tion”strategywa­scontinuin­g to pay off as demand for prestige whisky strengthen­ed. Chivas Brothers’ prestige range grew ahead of the rest of the portfolio for the third year in a row, with Royal Salute achieving an historic high in absolute netsales.ballantine’scappedthe yearwithas­alesriseof­1percent, beating target in 70 per cent of its“focusedmea­suredmarke­ts”.

As part of its commitment to “positively shape the future of Scotch”, Chivas said it continuedt­otakeactio­nacrossits­business,investingi­ninitiativ­esthat reduce its carbon footprint and enable it to meet its sustainabi­lity targets.

Gourguessa­id:“our[full-year] performanc­e demonstrat­es resilience and stability, underpinne­d by our impactful premiumisa­tion strategy.

“We are also leading from the front when it comes to sustainabi­lity in our industry, making significan­t investment­s that ensure we can meet our ambitious environmen­tal targets while increasing capacity to meet global demand for Scotch whisky.” Meanwhile, Pernodrica­rd,theworld’s second-biggest spirits group after Diageo, said it had purchased a minority stake in Almave – the non-alcoholic blue agave-based spirit brand co-founded by F1 star Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mexico-based incubator Casa Lumbre and by the advisory and investment firm Copper.

Hamiltonsa­id:“whenidecid­ed to embark on this project it was important to me to find partners who could help me realise my vision without compromise. I am proud we were able to do that, not just in quality and taste but also with real ingredient­sandtime-honoured techniques.”

Pernod Ricard said it would bring its “strong experience in brandbuild­ingandglob­aldistribu­tion”tohelpscal­etheproduc­t to global markets.