Jameson was among the top-performing brands in Pernod Ricard’s international spirits stable last year, with sales of the Midleton, Co Cork-made whiskey jumping another 10 per cent last year to a record 10.7 million cases.
On Thursday, Pernod Ricard, the French conglomerate that owns Jameson and Powers Irish whiskey brands among others through its Irish Distillers subsidiary, reported a 10 per cent climb in net global sales to €12.1 billion across its portfolio in the year to the end of June.
Sales in its strategic international brands division, which includes the likes of Absolut Vodka and Glenlivet, jumped 11 per cent, led by Jameson, Martell brandy and its Scotch whisky portfolio.
Jameson is now a top-three selling international whiskey, Pernod said, with sales topping 10.7 million cases last year, a record high, up from 10.4 million cases in the year to the end of June 2022. It is also the second-biggest individual brand by sales within the group, behind only Absolut.
Sales of Jameson soared 56 per cent in Asian markets, including China, South Korea and Japan, revealing the “continued globalisation” of the brand, Irish Distillers said. Sales in the US, meanwhile, slipped slightly due to what the group described as “post-Covid normalisation”, where sales surged last year due to the return of international travel.
The group’s “prestige” Irish whiskey category, which includes Midleton, Red Breast and the Yellow and Green Spot ranges, also performed strongly, achieving net sales growth of 22 per cent globally amid a boom in Irish whiskey sales across the world.
Nodjame Fouad, chairman and chief executive of Irish Distillers, said the group’s Irish whiskey portfolio still has growth potential. “We are very proud of the achievements of our brands in the year, and we believe that the potential for growth of our full portfolio is enormous, which is why we will continue to deliver on our business strategy and to ignite, or in many cases reignite, a passion for Irish whiskey in markets around the world,” she said.
[ Surge in spirit exports as ‘spectacular’ growth of Irish whiskey continuesOpens in new window ]
Some 15.2 million cases of Irish whiskey, which is protected against imitation under the EU’s geographical indications regime, were sold at home and abroad in 2022, according to Ibec’s Drinks Ireland division.
In its 2022 spirits report, the lobbying group said the category is on a “spectacular global growth” trajectory, with the US and UK among the top export destinations.
