Latest news with #Diageo
The Independent
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
University's vision for £35m brewing and distilling ‘centre for excellence'
Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh aims to raise £35 million for a Centre for Sustainable Brewing and Distilling to help the alcohol industry address the climate crisis. The new centre will function as a living laboratory, made with low-carbon materials and powered by clean energy, embracing green technologies and sustainable practices. It is hoped the centre will include plug-and-play brewing and distilling testbeds, advanced sustainability research labs, and specialist training programs. Professor Gillian Murray, deputy principal for business and enterprise, said the university had a long history of brewing and distilling education, dating back to 1903. Industry leaders from beverage companies Diageo and Carlsberg Britvic said they supported Heriot-Watt's plans, stressing the importance of sustainable processes and talent development for the future of the brewing and distilling industries.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cygnet Gin hires ex-Diageo executive as managing director
UK distiller Cygnet Gin has appointed former Diageo executive Vedran Milosevic as its new global managing director. Milosevic spent more than a decade at Diageo, with his most recent role two years as global commercial director for the company's luxury group unit. In a statement, Cygnet Gin said Milosevic "brings deep commercial acumen, strategic insight, and a passion for luxury execution and building culturally resonant brands". Nick Payne previously held the position of Cygnet managing director and led the brand's initial seeding phase in the UK. Payne left Cygnet in December to join Welsh brewer SA Brains Company as MD. 'We are thrilled to welcome Vedran to our Cygnet family,' chairman Matteo Fantacchiotti said. 'As we prepare for our next stage of growth, particularly in the UK and US, and strategically seed our presence in global luxury cities, knowing Vedran since many years I am very confident his leadership, global mindset and luxury expertise will be instrumental in accelerating our vision and implementation of our plans.' Fantacchiotti, formerly Campari Group chief executive, invested in Cygnet and became chairman in December three months after he unexpectedly resigned from the Aperol maker. Cygnet recently launched its gin in Dubai and Singapore and plans to expand into US cities in the fourth quarter. It has a "secondary focus" on "luxury cities" in Europe and Asia. 'The brand is bold, modern and beautifully crafted, positioned perfectly for a new generation of luxury consumers. I'm looking forward to leading the exceptional team at Cygnet to drive ambitious growth across the world's most influential cities," Milosevic said. Founded by singer Katharine Jenkins and artist and filmmaker Andrew Levitas, Wales-based Cygnet Gin has listings at UK retailers Waitrose and Marks and Spencer. Its products are also available at regional Tesco and Co-Op stores throughout Wales. The company launched its Cygnet 77 gin variant in April, with an initial exclusivity period for UK luxury department store Harrods. The product will enter the on-trade at Hakkasan restaurant in London's Mayfair from 6 June to 10 July. Further listings for Cygnet 77 are due in Singapore and a launch plan is in development for the US in the fourth quarter, the company said. "Cygnet Gin hires ex-Diageo executive as managing director" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
This Gen X entrepreneur launched a multimillion-dollar business with $2,500 on a credit card—He ditched his 9-to-5, and now works with Disney and Delta
Hella Cocktail Co. cofounder and CEO Jomaree Pinkard turned a passion project with his two best friends into a business partnering with Delta Airlines, Disney, and TGI Fridays. Quitting his job as an NFL consultant to make cocktail bitters and canned beverages, he now helms a multimillion-dollar operation and was even tapped by $64 billion alcohol giant Diageo for his expertise. Some people spend their entire workdays excited to go home and pursue their true passion. One Gen X entrepreneur quit his 9-to-5 with a dream—and now, he runs a business partnering with Disney and Delta Airlines. Jomaree Pinkard runs cocktail company Hella Cocktail Co. with his two best friends, Tobin Ludwig and Eddie Simeón. Launching the business in 2012 in New York City, the ragtag crew sought to ride the speakeasy and craft cocktail waves of the era with their own products: first with bitters, then with premium mixers and canned beverages. Now, Hella's products are in over 20,000 restaurants, bars, airplanes, and retailers, bolstered by a $5 million deal with Uncle Nearest. The business budded from a pastime enjoyed by three friends who were just messing around and wanted to create a good artisanal product. 'We were just doing a Kickstarter and a hobby. We were the kind of guys to make homemade pizza and cocktails,' Jomaree tells Fortune. 'And so when we started this hobby with 2,500 bucks on a credit card, we weren't set out on the journey.' As the business brains of the group, 46-year-old Pinkard has largely been in charge of Hella's partnerships and financial strategies. In the 13 years since, Hella Cocktail Co. has joined forces with billion-dollar brands; Pinkard himself brokered the company's national partnerships with Southern Glazers' Wine & Spirits, TGI Fridays, Disney, Whole Foods, and Delta Airlines. But it may never have happened if Pinkard didn't quit his 9-to-5 to live out a dream with his two best friends. It's safe to say that Hella Cocktail Co. was a slow burn; although the company launched in 2012, the three founders were juggling the business with their full-time jobs. At the time, Pinkard was a player engagement consultant for the NFL, Ludwig was a bartender in New York City, and Simeón worked at Martha Stewart's media and merchandising company. It took between three and four years for the trio to actually quit their day jobs. Pinkard was in his early 30s by the time he turned to full-time entrepreneurship, after a Wharton education as well as stints at the NFL and Marsh & McLennan. It was a scary jump—but business was finally blooming at Hella Cocktail, and it felt more secure to fully commit. Two years later, the brand was partnering with Restoration Hardware and stocking the bar carts of Delta flights. 'Because this was a hobby, there were no investors, there were no [guidelines] to follow,' Pinkard says. 'Then we made enough money to capitalize ourselves in the business. We slowly crawled before we came up, and then we ran.' Hella Cocktail Co. was flying by the seat of its pants in the early years; but by 2016, everything was coming together. A turning point was doing the Fancy Food Trade show at the Javits Center in New York in 2013—Hella was making a name for itself. 'We really wanted to be in the culture, being the 'new kids on the block,'' Pinkard says. 'Once we started to pinpoint those partner relationships, that's when those things started to really take shape.' Pinkard enjoyed the ride as Hella Cocktail's chief businessman until 2022, when he stepped away from the company for two years. He was tapped to steer Pronghorn, a $200 million fund deploying money to Black-owned steering companies in the consumer packaged goods space—backed by $64 billion alcohol giant Diageo. During that time he saw hundreds of entrepreneurs in Hella Cocktail Co.'s space, with every one doing things a little differently. He parsed through the commonalities and differences between his company and theirs, bringing that knowledge back to Hella in 2024 as CEO. 'There were a lot of learnings,' Pinkard says, one being that: 'Leaders who are disciplined and accountable do really [well]. Those who were anchored in their vision, but understand they're going to have to pivot a few degrees as they move forward.' This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
2 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Corporations won't save LGBTQ+ people. Take their money for Pride anyway.
Corporations won't save LGBTQ+ people. Take their money for Pride anyway. | Opinion Every large company, regardless of its position on DEI, operates within systems that perpetuate harm in one way or another. This is not a time to stand on principle. Take the money. Show Caption Hide Caption San Francisco Pride faces shortfall as corporate sponsors pull out Several major companies have opted out of donating to San Francisco Pride this year, such as Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, Nissan, and Comcast. Corporations are not our friends. Despite their diverse casting in advertisements, the rainbow trinkets they proudly sell for $2, press releases on innovative DEI initiatives or how "brave" their hot takes on social issues are – corporations will not save us. They exist to sell us things. They exist to advertise their brand. They exist to maximize their profits. And our job as queer leaders is not to be the morality police of who can or cannot sponsor pride or donate toward LGBTQ+ events and causes; our job is to grab that money and use it to support a community on the brink of being pummeled. This is not a normal year. Federal funding for nonprofits supporting LGBTQ+, immigrant, people of color and other intersecting communities are under attack, as are our tax-exempt statuses. Economists are predicting massive layoffs. Libraries, museums, cultural spaces and health programs (which employ and serve countless LGBTQ+ individuals) are being defunded. Trump administration has waged war on trans people Our federal government has waged an egregious war on our trans family, and the Supreme Court recently heard a case that could dismantle all preventative care coverage, including access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis medicine that can help prevent the spread of HIV). Here is the hard truth we have to reckon with in 2025: Every dollar counts more than ever if we want to keep LGBTQ+ people informed, healthy and alive. There's a commendable vision within the LGBTQ+ community to return to a time when we relied on mutual aid instead of corporate dollars. But like everything, it has a cost. In 2025, that cost is asking a community of people who are losing access to meds, about to lose their jobs and constantly under political attack to give even more. Your Turn: Do you celebrate pride? Are you worried about Trump's impacts on it? Tell us. The quiet truth is it would financially decimate our community if we were expected to take the already small amount of resources that we have and use them to replace hundreds of millions dollars in lost sponsorships, research and health care. Most people can't afford to donate to every fundraiser providing continuous access to gender-affirming care, send money to replace funding for the local trans services that lost their federal grant, give to all the GoFundMe's for everyone getting laid off this year, donate to support some research project still happening and still manage to support the normal fundraising needs our community has on whatever is left in their pockets between paydays. We become stronger by bringing more resources into the fold, not recycling what we have over and over. Pride events must take every dollar from any corporation The truth is, no corporation is ever clean. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Every large company ‒ regardless of its position on diversity, equity and inclusion ‒ operates within systems that perpetuate harm in one way or another. How is DEI the deal breaker for who can sponsor pride, but we'll turn a blind eye to a health insurance conglomerate with questionable tactics, companies that destroy the environment or banks supporting genocide? In any other year, I would be asking you to throw them all out. Today I'm asking you to take all of their money. Opinion: With Trump's ban on trans troops in effect, US tests lawful discrimination This is my ask, if you're running a pride festival or charity event, determine the minimum amount you need to make your event a reality, and build a regranting program to get excess funds to community resources under attack this year. This includes your local HIV clinic or programs providing gender-affirming care. If your nonprofit receives corporate gifts or grants, continue to accept the gifts that keep your doors open. But here's the key: Promise corporations the bare minimum in return for their sponsorships. Brainstorm with your team to reexamine what you offer your partners. Are there promotional aspects that could be tweaked, or partnerships toned down, so you are still offering something of value to the partner but it's more authentic to the organization? A little wiggle room leads to big gains. It's time to fight for our survival, not stand on principle If these companies are willing to give us the bare minimum, in the form of a tax-deductible donation, we can afford to give them the bare minimum in return to keep our community stable. Use them to build our own mutual aid bank. Take that dollar. Because in six months or a year, we probably won't have it. Our nonprofits might be starting to shut down. Services will likely be more strained or cut off completely. This is not a time to stand on principle about which funding sources are 'pure.' It's a time to rally, strategize and fight for survival. Every dollar we take and redirect to our community is a necessary, and perhaps fleeting, lifeline – using the advertising capital of a festival or a one-time event, to protect the health, safety and knowledge of our community. To nonprofit leaders and community organizers reading this: Take the money. All of it. Use it to get more medicine, more stability and more resources into your communities. Raise it now so we have it tomorrow. Ask for more, too. We're not just fighting for the present; we're fighting to preserve a future for LGBTQ+ communities everywhere. And that fight requires every dollar we can muster. Missy Spears is the executive director of Queer Kentucky, the GLAAD-nominated media nonprofit that uses the power of storytelling to impact LGBTQ+ culture and health. In addition to her work with Queer Kentucky, Spears serves as the Board of Directors co-president for the Kentucky Civic Engagement Table, the cofounder of the COVunity Free Fridge Program, and sits on Community Advisory Boards for the Cincinnati Art Museum, media outlet WCPO, and University of Kentucky's Center for Clinical and Translational Science. This column originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Glenrothes' New Release Is Delicious, Affordable And A Surprise Move
The Glenrothes The 15 is a more-accessible new release that bucks market trends towards premiumization. Courtesy: Glenrothes After a relatively prosperous era of expansion, the Scotch whisky category is showing signs of strain. According to the Scotch Whisky Association, export volumes dropped nearly 9.5% in 2023, even though total sales remained roughly the same. Similar trends have been reported in the U.S., with the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) reporting a 17.4% drop in volume from 2019 to 2024. That same report shows that the only growth category by revenue has been 'super premium,' For a long time, a go-to strategy has been a tilt toward even more high-end offerings: premiumization. Higher age statements, boutique packaging, and collector-geared bottlings became the norm. Just last month, Tamdhu released a 43-year-old expression priced at $16,000 and Johnnie Walker launched the first releases from its much-hyped Johnnie Walker Vault. But in 2025, economic caution is setting in and consumer spend is flattening. RBC analysts focusing on Diageo (which owns Johnnie Walker, Talisker and Lagavulin, among others) said late last year that they 'estimate that the proportion of sales from high-end reserve brands fell from 29% in 2023 to 27% in 2024.' That's on top on-and-off tariffs threatening massive price swings and availability issues for consumers. Amid all that uncertainty, there's an opening for contrarian moves. That's the market context surrounding the release of The Glenrothes The 15, a new permanent addition to the Speyside distillery's portfolio. Now available across the U.S, The 15 comes in with an age statement below their flagship 18 and 25-year-old expressions (not to mention their very, very premium 42-year-old option). Moving to a lower age statement seems like a broad against premiumization—though it's not entirely so simple. First off, at $100 SRP, this Single Malt certainly hasn't entered the 'value' category. With 100% first-fill European oak sherry casks, upscale packaging, and a complex flavor profile, The 15 is designed to hit a balancing point: accessible yet still prestige. Laura Rampling, The Glenrothes' Master Whisky Maker, describes the spirit in a statement as "a counterintuitive marriage of the delicate and the bold," bringing sweet fruit and bright spice into a bold but balanced profile. It finishes rich, silky, and spice-laced, an excellent example of the Speyside style and a very sessionable sipper in general. The Glenrothes, long considered a hidden gem in Speyside, has built a quiet legacy since 1879 with its slow distillation and emphasis on high-quality oak. The release of The 15 underscores its confidence in those fundamentals. Where some competitors are trimming SKUs or maintaining a slate of ultra-limited releases, The Glenrothes is reinforcing its house style while also onboarding a more affordable age statement. The Glenrothes The 15 marks a shift in the age-statements that the distillery offers. Courtesy: The Glenrothes In a tightening market, The Glenrothes The 15 isn't just a new bottle, it's a signal that brands can't count on premiumization forever. That's not to say that brands won't still release ultra-premium expressions. Instead, if The 15 shows signs of success, there could be an opening for brands with a willingness to carry their upscale products to a more accessible point in the market. It could also answer signal a new trend: premiumization that goes both ways.
