Date: December 2, 2020
Publication: https://www.bworldonline.com
Link: https://www.bworldonline.com/emperador-sees-further-expansion-of-brandy-business-in-the-us-next-year/

LIQUOR MANUFACTURER Emperador, Inc. is continuing the expansion of its brandy products in North and South America for 2021 despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Tuesday, the Andrew L. Tan-led company said the volume of its Don Pedro and Presidente products in the United States (US) have been growing in the last five months amid the pandemic.

“Don Pedro recorded double digit volume growth particularly in Nevada, New Jersey, and Illinois while Presidente also enjoys rapid growth in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma,” the company said in the statement.

“Both brandy products are part of the Casa Pedro Domecq portfolio in Mexico, which is now under Grupo Emperador Spain and currently controls 57% of the Mexican brandy market,” it added.

Grupo Emperador Spain Chief Executive Officer Juan Cortès Vilardell said aside from Don Pedro and Presidente, the company has also been selling its imported brandies such as Fundador and Emperador across the United States.

“We see brighter prospects in further growing our brandy business across the United States in 2021. From January to September this year, we have already increased our Fundador sales in the United States by around 23% and this is a very positive signal for us,” Mr. Vilardell was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the company said its product Brandy Domecq has already occupied 91% of the brandy market share in Colombia.

“Just like in Mexico where we have dominated the market share for brandy, we have also seen a steady growth in Colombia’s brandy market in the last five years,” Mr. Vilardell said.

He said the market presence of Brandy Domecq in other Latin American countries like Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Aruba and Brazil has also been increasing.

“We remain focused on further expanding our presence across Latin America by also introducing our imported brandy products, particularly the Philippine-made Emperador Brandy, because the taste preference for brandy in this region has been remarkably growing,” Mr. Vilardell said.

Emperador posted a 26% jump in its net income to P2.5 billion in the third quarter of the year.

From January to September, the company’s net income rose 11% to P5.9 billion due to the strong sales of its brandy and whisky products in international markets.

Shares of Emperador at the stock exchange rose 0.20% or two centavos to end at P10.10 apiece on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave