Pernod Ricard has announced “record breaking” growth in the first half of FY22, with the company celebrating organic net sales rising 17%, up 13% versus pre-COVID-19.

Organic sales totalled €5.95 million (US$6.8million). Sales grew in all regions, with the Americas up 14%, Asia-Rest-of-World up 16% and Europe up 21%.

Alexandre Ricard, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “The execution of our ‘transform and accelerate’ strategy is delivering an excellent and broad-based performance in the first half, with brand share gains in most countries.

“If we look at our brands a little bit in more detail, you see that Martell is up 11%, up 8% versus pre-COVID levels, driven by China, of course, but also driven by the US. Jameson is up 22%, due to continued strong global expansion.

“Absolut is up 23% and also up 8% versus pre-COVID levels. There has been excellent international development for Absolut, which is up 35% outside of the US. Our scotch portfolio is up 23% and is up 10% versus pre-COVID levels. I think the key message here is that the growth is broad-based across the portfolio and across the regions. You see Chivas up 23%. You see Ballantine’s up 29%. The Glenlivet, up 21%. And the remarkable performance of Royal Salute, up 41%.”

Gin was another strong performer with The Gin Hub, which is home to Pernod Ricard’s international premium+ gins, recording massive growth.

“Delighted to report +36% growth in H1 for The Gin Hub with 18 out of our Top 20 markets growing double-digit, as markets bounce back strongly from the pandemic and emerging gin markets continue to grow,” Louise Ryan, Managing Director at The Gin Hub, said. “This result is the product of our fantastic portfolio of international brands and our dedicated team worldwide. Cheers to you!”

As for the outlook for the rest of FY22, the company stated that “in an ongoing volatile environment with potential disruptions of Covid-19, Pernod Ricard expects continued on-trade rebound, off-trade resilience and travel retail gradual recovery driving strong diversified sales momentum across regions.”

The spirits scoring double-digit growth in Australia

Champagne sales surge

Pernod Ricard saw strong results in its Champagne portfolio, with Mumm up 24% globally, driven by Champagne momentum in France and good rebound in on-trade in Italy, US and Spain.

Perrier-Jouët was up a massive 51%, in a broad-based rebound with growth notably driven by Japan and the US.

Last month, Drinks International released the results of its annual Champagne report, which surveyed 106 of the top bars around the world to find out not only which brands sell best but also what’s trending. Perrier-Jouët came in at No.2 on both lists.

Australia’s fastest growing Champagne brands