AlcBev in Five

India seizes Diageo liquor stock over packaging markings. Government sources tell Reuters inspectors seized roughly 18,000 boxes of Diageo bottles for allegedly missing safe-recycled-plastic markings, a compliance stop in one of the group's fastest-growing markets. (Reuters, News18, Business Standard)

Henkell talks to buy Maison Pommery end without deal. Just Drinks reports Henkell Freixenet's bid for a majority stake in the Champagne group closed without agreement, leaving the house's ownership question open. (Just Drinks)

Treasury Wine sets out plan to rebalance US supply chain. Just Drinks reports investors responded positively to TWE's plan to "rebalance" its Americas supply chain to accelerate future returns. (Just Drinks)

United Spirits accused of misleading whisky maturation claims. The Drinks Business reports India's food safety regulator has extended its labelling dispute with the Diageo subsidiary, a week after banning certain spirits over improper flavourings. (The Drinks Business, LatestLY, Economic Times)

Also moving today:

Suntory posts stagnant H1 alcohol sales (The Spirits Business, Shanken News Daily)

Premiumisation lifts liquor firms' June quarter topline amid cost headwinds (Business Standard)

Survey: 69% of Canadians back US booze ban (The Spirits Business)

Heimark Distributing Strikes Deal for Alford Distributing in Southern California (Brewbound)

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Diageo Reports Sales Down 2%, U.S. Recovery Two Years Out. Diageo reported a 2% organic sales decline for its June fiscal year and placed a U.S. spirits recovery roughly two years out, a horizon suppliers and distributors can set forecasts against. (Shanken News Daily, Diageo)

Diageo Unveils $1 Billion Cost Plan, Backs RTDs and Guinness. CEO Dave Lewis announced a $1 billion cost-cutting program while naming RTDs and Guinness as continued investment areas, signalling where the largest spirits supplier is still spending. (Brewbound, BevNET, The Drinks Business)

Molson Coors Cuts 400 Roles as Quarterly Profit Falls 49%. Molson Coors said it would cut about 400 salaried Americas jobs as second-quarter pre-tax profit fell 49%, putting a figure on the beer slowdown's effect on brewer P&Ls. (Journal Sentinel, Brewbound, Investing.com)

Also moving today:

June Beer Industry Supply Declined YoY; Losses Eased Compared to May, per BI (Brewbound)

Heineken's Profit Beats Forecast After 3,000 Job Cuts (Hospitality Ireland, Brewbound)

WSWA Sees “Signs Of Stabilization” In Wine And Spirits Market (Shanken News Daily)

Under Sazerac, Minute Maid Spiked Chases Hard Tea’s Shift To Spirits (Brewbound, BevNET, Shanken News Daily)

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Heineken Holding reports 2026 half-year results. Heineken Holding N.V. has filed its 2026 half-year results, the holding-company view of the brewer that group-level investors and analysts track. (Heineken Holding N.V., Taiwan News, FinanzNachrichten.de)

Heineken says Africa, Asia offset weaker Americas. CFO Harold van den Broek said emerging-market strength carried Heineken's first half while the brewer was "not happy" with the Americas, a read on where growth is coming from now. (Just Drinks, Moneyweb, Checkout)

Heineken shareholders approve Rafael Oliveira board appointment. Heineken N.V.'s general meeting approved Rafael Oliveira to the Executive Board, adding a named leader to the brewer's senior bench. (Heineken N.V., The Manila times, Taiwan News)

India's FSSAI bans several rum and whisky brands. The regulator prohibited sales of brands including Old Monk, McDowell's No. 1 Rum, Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum, putting compliance exposure on United Spirits and INBREW. (Pratidin, Firstpost, The Hindu)

Also moving today:

The State of Bev-Alc Distribution: Suppliers Reckon With A Shifting Middle Tier (Brewbound, BevNET)

US court reverses Jack Daniel’s win in dog toy trademark case (The Spirits Business)

Bacardi Expands Capacity, Opens Puerto Rico Visitor Center, Capping $100M Investment (Shanken News Daily, The Spirits Business)

CNBC UK Exchange: Diageo's turnaround test (CNBC, Google News, Google News)

Off-Premise Declines Consistent Through Late July, per NIQ Weekly Scans (Brewbound)

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Morgan Stanley reports improving U.S. spirits retail trends. Morgan Stanley says U.S. retail alcohol scans improved modestly in the four weeks to July 25, with spirits ahead of beer, though part of the lift is tied to a one-off event. (Investing.com)

Manhattan Beer takes on brands previously handled by RNDC New York. New York Wine & Spirits has acquired distribution rights to a portfolio formerly with RNDC New York, changing route-to-market in the largest U.S. state market. (Shanken News Daily)

Circana weekly scans show bev-alc sales down, beer leading decline. Circana's latest weekly scan report puts total beverage alcohol sales down year-over-year and week-over-week, with beer identified as the main drag. (Brewbound)

Wildfires burn near Bordeaux as France faces extreme heat. Wildfires continue near Bordeaux amid extreme heat, raising questions about vineyard exposure that have not yet been quantified. (The Drinks Business)

Also moving today:

Campari profits fall despite stronger outlook for 2026 (The Drinks Business)

Heineken 0.0 Partners With Serena Williams For US Open Promo (MediaPost, Men's Journal, CNHI News)

Senate Funding Bill Would Delay Hemp THC Ban By One Month (Shanken News Daily, The Fresh Toast, The Drinks Business)

85-year-old distiller escapes partner bankruptcy just in time (TheStreet)

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Diageo's income from Moët Hennessy tie-up fell sharply. Reported earnings from one of spirits' longest-running distribution partnerships dropped in fiscal 2025 versus 2023, putting a route-to-market pillar for two of the industry's largest groups under scrutiny. (London South East, Reuters, esmmagazine.com)

Union says Diageo distillery jobs at risk in Scotland. A local trade union reports hundreds of redundancy-risk notices across Highlands and Islands distilleries, testing how far cost discipline now reaches into production capacity. (Just Drinks)

United Spirits takes FSSAI flavouring order to Bombay High Court. The Diageo-owned Indian producer has challenged a regulator's restriction on flavouring, putting product-formulation rules and the reformulation exposure they create before a judge. (mint, cnbctv18.com)

Indian spirits makers lean on luxury as growth slows. Mint reports producers from Diageo India to Radico Khaitan are betting affluent drinkers keep trading up, a mix shift that reads through to portfolio and pricing strategy. (mint)

Becle says too early to call US Tequila normalisation. The Tequila producer declined to say whether US inventories and demand are normalising, leaving timing unsettled for anyone planning agave-category shipments. (Just Drinks)

Also moving today:

RNDC court filings reveal scale of distributor’s financial collapse (The Drinks Business)

Diageo appoints new Asia Pacific chief (The Spirits Business)

Compagnia del Gusto Holding buys Jascots Wine Merchants (Drinks International, Just Drinks, The Drinks Business)

Tsingtao enters Irish whiskey with Great Northern (The Spirits Business)

Endeavour Group to offload Australian wine assets (The Drinks Business)

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Control-State Spirits Flat Year-To-Date Despite June Gain. Shanken News Daily reports June volume ran 5% ahead of last year, yet control-state spirits sit at +0.1% YTD, a read on whether the category's slowdown is steadying. (Shanken News Daily, Just Drinks)

India Bars Some Diageo, Inbrew Whisky And Rum. India's food safety regulator ordered a stop-sale on certain United Spirits and Inbrew products over flavour additives, per Reuters, putting additive compliance on the agenda for anyone with India volume. (Market Screener, Yahoo News, Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd)

St-Germain Outgrowing Aperol As Hugo Spritz Spreads. The Financial Times reports Bacardi's St-Germain is growing faster than Campari's Aperol in the US this summer, testing the assumption that the aperitif occasion belongs to one brand. (Financial Times News)

California Wineries Removing Vineyards Amid Weak Sales. The Boston Globe reports California produced less wine last year than at any point in 25 years, with growers pulling out vines, a signal of oversupply reaching grape contracts and bulk supply. (The Boston Globe)

Also moving today:

Constellation Only Top 5 Beer Vendor in Growth in L4W, per Circana Monthly Report (Brewbound)

Southern Glazer’s Closes Eagle Rock Colorado Deal (BevNet, Brewbound, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits)

NIQ: Vodka RTD Growth Shows Where Spirits Innovation is Converting (Brewbound, BevNET)

New bill prevents price hikes for Michigan spirits (The Spirits Business)

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AB InBev Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results. The world's largest brewer published its Q2 results, setting the volume and pricing benchmark other AlcBev prints this week get read against. (Anheuser-Busch InBev, Financial Post, The Montreal Gazette)

Ambev Beats on Profit, Misses on Revenue in Q2. Latin America's largest brewer topped earnings expectations while sales came in short, per its Q2 2026 call transcript, a margin-versus-volume split. (Investing.com)

Bev-Alc Declines Persist in Latest NIQ Weekly Scans. Year-over-year bev-alc declines continued through the summer event window, per NIQ data reported by Brewbound, the current off-premise demand read. (Brewbound)

MGP Ingredients Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results. The distilling and food-ingredient supplier posted results for the quarter ended June 30, giving an upstream read on brown-goods and contract distilling demand. (MGP Ingredients)

Also moving today:

Anheuser-Busch InBev Says Cutwater Is on Track for $1B as Spirits Gain Share (BevNET, Brewbound)

A-B’s US Depletions -1.9%, Shipments -0.6% in Q2; Cutwater 2nd Largest Revenue Growth Contributor (Brewbound)

Alcohol consumption in Ireland falls in 2025 (The Spirits Business)

British booze getting weaker (Mail Online)

Radico Khaitan profits jump 27.7% in Q1 (The Spirits Business)

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Campari reports fifth straight quarter of organic growth. Campari's H1 2026 presentation credits aperitif-led performance for margin expansion, giving operators a benchmark as the wider spirits category softens. (Investing.com)

Cobblestone Brands to buy Bisquit and Cabo Wabo. Campari has agreed to sell a Cognac and a tequila brand to a Dublin-based independent, per The Spirits Business, extending its portfolio pruning. (The Spirits Business)

RNDC says buyers have shown interest as Chapter 11 begins. The US distributor tells The Drinks Business that parties are circling parts of its remaining business, leaving affected brands' route to market unsettled. (The Drinks Business)

Australian wine export volumes fall to 22-year low. Just Drinks reports export volumes at their lowest level in 22 years, putting a figure on the demand decline growers and importers are pricing against. (Just Drinks)

Also moving today:

Brown-Forman Corporation: Sazerac's $32 Cash Bid Rebuffed as Dual-Class Control Shields Valuation Disconnect (Yahoo! Finance, The News Tribune)

Pernod Ricard finalizes deal as NFL's official spirits sponsor (sportsbusinessjournal.com)

Wildfires threaten wineries as blaze nears Bordeaux (The Drinks Business)

Alcohol consumption falls again in Ireland (Just Drinks, The Drinks Business)

United Spirits backs India’s ‘first’ limoncello (The Spirits Business)

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Report Details Terms of Sazerac's $15B Brown-Forman Bid. Forbes and other outlets report new detail on an unconfirmed $15 billion approach whose terms, if pursued, would redraw the American whiskey map. (Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, The Courier-Journal)

RNDC Files Chapter 11, Leaving Suppliers in Line. BevNET and Brewbound report the top-three distributor's bankruptcy filing puts suppliers already months without payment behind other creditors, turning distribution risk into a receivables problem. (BevNET, Brewbound)

Canadian Whisky Faces 50% U.S. Tariff as Scotch Goes Duty-Free. Forbes reports two brown spirits now cross the same U.S. border on opposite terms, with the timing of any shelf-price move still unsettled. (Forbes)

Craft Beer Dollars Down 3.7% in Latest Circana Read. Brewbound reports craft's four-week decline narrowed versus prior periods, a data point buyers are weighing against occasion-driven segments. (Brewbound)

Also moving today:

LVMH expects “moderate” growth for wine and spirits for rest of 2026 (Just Drinks, The Spirits Business)

Price sensitive: is depremiumisation the future? (The Spirits Business)

Louis Roederer enters Burgundy with Domaine Pierre Damoy acquisition (The Drinks Business, Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News)

How Tequila brands hope to recharge sales growth in the US (Just Drinks)

Pressure on Italy wine exports continues (Just Drinks)

Louis Roederer seals deal to enter Burgundy (Just Drinks)

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Brown-Forman rejects Sazerac takeover proposal. Brown-Forman has turned down a fresh approach from fellow US distiller Sazerac, according to trade reports, leaving ownership of a major American whiskey portfolio an open question. (Just Drinks, Yahoo! Finance, Shanken News Daily)

RNDC files Chapter 11 as wind-down begins. Republic National Distributing Co. has filed for Chapter 11 in Texas after selling off most of its business, formalizing the exit of a top-three US distributor. (Shanken News Daily, BevNET, Brewbound)

Impact Databank projects 3.5% US wine decline in 2026. Impact Databank projects US wine volume will fall 3.5% in 2026 to below 300 million cases, which would mark a sixth straight annual decline. (Shanken News Daily)

Circana scans show muted World Cup off-premise sales. Circana's weekly scan data shows the FIFA World Cup's final week produced only modest off-premise bev-alc gains, a data point for how planners value event-tied promotions. (Brewbound)

Also moving today:

Cuervo Sees Sales Slip, But Says U.S. “Sequentially Improving” (Shanken News Daily)

Edrington Aligns With Johnson Brothers In Four States (Shanken News Daily)

Brown-Forman Stockholders Elect Directors (Barchart.com, wallstreet:online, Brown-Forman)

May Beer Supply Slips Back Into Red as Consumers’ Wallets Tighten, per the Beer Institute (Brewbound)

Battle of the Teas Continues as Boston Beer Adjusts Media Spend and Tempers FY26 Expectations (Brewbound, The Boston Beer Company)

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