Despite the global economic downturn of the last 5 years no one seems to be curbing their thirst for a stiff drink. There has been a lot of news running around lately regarding investment, mergers, and acquisitions in Scotch whiskey. Scotch whiskey has posted 5 consecutive years of double digit sales growth worldwide and according to the Scotch Whiskey Association posted a growth of 23% in 2011. The world’s largest producer of Scotch whiskey is Diageo (NYSE:DEO) who is responsible for the production of Crown Royal, Windsor Premier, J&B, Buchanan’s, and Johnnie Walker as well as 22 other whiskey brands.
On Wednesday Diageo announced £1 billion of investment to boost production of Scotch whiskey in the 30% to 40% range. A new malt distillery will be built in Scotland in the near future and should sales growth continue to gain momentum a second distillery could be built as soon as 2016.
The fun doesn’t stop there! Diageo announced Thursday that it has purchased Cabin Fever Maple Flavored Whiskey from the Robillard Family who were locally producing the whiskey in the north-eastern US and selling in limited Canadian and United States markets. Diageo plans a nationwide rollout of their new flavored whiskey brand with the Robillard family being heavily involved. Fortunately the Robbillard family is well prepared for this as the owners of Whiskey Girls LLC, professional models and staffing for all your promotional needs.
Diageo closed Thursday down 0.29%, trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 0.66%.
Foodbeat’s Take: Here stands proof that no matter how broke people are they will always need something to take their mind off life. As the economies of the world fall apart, booze has become the new safe haven for investors.
Sources: Daily Finance, iStockAnalyst
