Pernod Ricard has indicated that it is seriously contemplating buying a new drinks brand which has significant market penetration in China, where the luxury drinks sector has suffered heavily in recent years.
This could possibly be a baijiu SKU – the popular Chinese spirit which has experienced growth recently, following sales-falls caused by austerity politics in the country.
As quoted by TheSpiritsBusiness.com, Pernod’s managing director of finance and operations, Gilles Bogaert, commented that the increased consumption of baijiu is “positive for the whole spirits market in China.”
“But we are glad we didn’t buy any baijiu brands three or four years ago because there’s a bubble there,” he added. “Before we targeted 30 million people, but now we want four times more consumers, so we could be open to adding new business to our portfolio.
“We could add some fast growing premium brands, why not? It shouldn’t necessarily be in baijiu.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
