Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard S.A.

Type	Société Anonyme
Traded as	Euronext: RI
Industry	Drinks
Founded	1975
Headquarters	Paris, France
Key people	Pierre Pringuet (CEO), Patrick Ricard (Chairman)
Products	Distilled beverages
Revenue	€7.081 billion (year - June 2010)[1]
Operating income	€1.707 billion (yr - Jun 2010)[1]
Profit	€951 million (yr - Jun 2010)[1]
Employees	18,180 (Jun 2010)[1]
Website	www.pernod-ricard.com

Pernod Ricard (Euronext: RI) is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard. The company also produces several other types of pastis.

After the banning of absinthe, Pernod Ricard was created from the Pernod Fils company, which had produced absinthe. It is now a worldwide conglomerate.

Pernod Ricard owns the distilled beverage division of the former corporation Seagram, along with many other holdings. In 2005, the company acquired a British-based competitor, Allied Domecq plc.

In 2008, Pernod Ricard announced its acquisition of Swedish-based V&S Group, which produces Absolut Vodka.

History

Pernod in a glass with water and ice.

Pernod

Main article: Pernod Fils

• 1797 - Henri-Louis Pernod opened his first absinthe distillery in Switzerland.
• 1805 – Maison Pernod Fils (simply known as Pernod Fils) was founded in Pontarlier, Franche-Comté in eastern France by Henri-Louis Pernod, a French distiller of Francophone Swiss origin, and started the production of the anise-flavored liquor known as absinthe.
• 1850 - Henri-Louis Pernod died.
• 1871 – Distillerie Hémard was founded near Paris.
• 1872 – Société Pernod Père & Fils opened in Avignon.
• 1915 – Production and consumption of absinthe was prohibited in France. Most companies looked for alternatives and begin producing pastis instead.
• 1926 – All 3 distilleries merged to form Les Établissements Pernod.
• 1951 – Pastis 51, was launched.
• 1965 – Takeover of Distillerie Rousseau, Laurens et Moureaux, producer of the Suze liquor since 1889.

Ricard

• 1932 – Ricard, which soon became France's favourite long drink, was founded in Marseille by Paul Ricard.
• 1940 – Production of pastis was prohibited by the Vichy regime.
• 1944 – Production of pastis became legal again.
• 1968 – Paul Ricard retired; his son Patrick became CEO in 1978.

Pernod Ricard

• 1975 – Old rivals Pernod and Ricard merged to form Pernod Ricard S.A..
• 1988 – Pernod Ricard acquired Irish Distillers (which includes Jameson Irish whiskeys).
• 1989 – Pernod Ricard acquired Orlando Wyndham (makers of Jacob's Creek).
• 1993 – Pernod Ricard worked with Cuban companies to create Havana Club International.
• 2001 – Pernod Ricard purchased 38% of Seagram's Wines and Spirits business.
• 2005 – Pernod Ricard purchased Allied Domecq.
• 2008 – Pernod Ricard purchased V&S Group including the Absolut Vodka brand, from the Swedish government.^[2]

Subsidiaries

• Premium Wine Brands (Australia) – owner of Orlando Wines (incl. Jacob's Creek) and Wyndham Estate
• Pernod Ricard NZ – owner of Montana Wines
• Corby Distilleries - Canadian subsidiary; owner of Wiser's whisky, Lamb's rum
• Pernod Ricard Rouss - subsidiary in the Russian Federation
• Irish Distillers - Irish subsidiary
• Pernod Ricard Armenia - Armenian subsidiary

Brands

Head office of Pernod Ricard, 12 place des États-Unis, Paris, 16th arr.

Pernod Ricard owns a wide variety of beverage brands worldwide. These include:

Ararat (brandy) (Armenian cognac) Royal Salute whisky (scotch whisky) Chivas Regal (scotch whisky) The Glenlivet (single malt scotch whisky) Jameson Irish Whiskey Seagram's gin Pernod aux extraits d'absinthe Luksusowa (Polish potato vodka) Absolut (vodka) Wyborowa (vodka) Ricard and 51 (pastis) Martell (cognac) Jacob's Creek (wine) Pernod (anise-based spirit) Zoco Becherovka DITA (lychee-based spirit) Havana Club (rum). Olmeca Tequila Frïs Vodka

As of 26 July 2005, the brand portfolio expanded to include former Allied Domecq products:

Ballantine's scotch Kahlúa coffee liqueur Malibu coconut-flavored rum Beefeater gin

Tia Maria liqueur Stolichnaya vodka (which is now under William Grant & Sons) Mumm champagne Perrier-Jouët champagne

Lincolnshire, Illinois-based Fortune Brands acquired a number of former Allied Domecq brands from Pernod Ricard following Pernod Ricard's acquisition of Allied Domecq. These include:

Sauza tequila Courvoisier cognac Canadian Club whisky Clos du Bois Other Sonoma and Napa wine brands Laphroaig malt whisky Teacher's Highland Cream Scotch whisky

Cockburn's port Harveys sherries Larios gin DYC whisky Fundador Spanish brandy Centenario Spanish brandy Kuemmerling German bitters

Fortune Brands' agreement with Pernod Ricard also included the purchase of the Maker's Mark bourbon brand, which remained subject to regulatory clearance in the United States. While the U.S. Federal Trade Commission conducted its review, Maker's Mark was owned and managed by Pernod Ricard and Pernod Ricard received the earnings from the brand. Fortune Brands was compensated with interest payments upon transfer of the brand.^[3]

Yoo-hoo chocolate beverage (notably non-alcoholic) was sold to Pernod Ricard in 1989, and in 2001 Pernod Ricard sold it to Cadbury Schweppes.

Controversies

Support of bullfighting in France

According to the NGO Alliance anticorrida, Pernod Ricard is the major funder of bullfighting in France, financing bullfighting clubs and sponsoring corridas despite the opposition of a majority of French citizens to blood sports.^[4].

Property rights conflict over the Havana Club trademark

The Havana Club brand was lost to its founders, the Arechabala family, due to the 1959 Cuban Revolution and an ongoing legal battle opposes the claimed trademark owners in the US to the joint-venture between Pernod Ricard and the Cuban State-owned company Corporación Cuba Ron. The Havana Club trademark remains unchallenged elsewhere in the world, having been validated by court decisions in a number of other countries than the US.^[5][6][7].

Chemistry

The pastis beverages produced by Pernod Ricard will become cloudy when diluted because they are aniseed-based. These beverages contain oils called terpenes, which are soluble in an aqueous solution that contains 30% ethanol or more by volume. When the solution is diluted to below 30% ethanol, the terpenes become insoluble; this causes a cloudy precipitate to form in the solution. The same chemistry causes absinthe to go cloudy when diluted.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Annual Report 2009/2010" (PDF). Pernod Ricard. http://www.pernod-ricard.com/medias/Finance/PDF/DocumentDeReference/Reference-Document-2009-2010-EN.pdf. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
2. ^ "Pernod wins auction for Vin & Sprit". The Local. 2008-03-31. http://www.thelocal.se/10800/20080331/. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 
3. ^ "Fortune Brands Receives Regulatory Clearance to Complete Purchase of Maker's Mark". http://www.fortunebrands.com/news/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=175324&ReleaseType=Corporate. Retrieved 2009-01-24. 
4. ^ "Alliance anti-corrida (Anti-Bullfighting Alliance)" (HTML). Alliance anti-corrida. http://www.allianceanticorrida.fr/english.html. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 
5. ^ "Bacardi Havana Club trademark - bad US politics makes for bad US business" (HTML). Havana Journal. http://havanajournal.com/business/entry/bacardi-havana-club-trademark-bad-us-politics-makes-for-bad-us-business/. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 
6. ^ "Pernod Ricard Loses Appeals Court Ruling in Bacardi ‘Havana Club Fight" (HTML). Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-29/pernod-ricard-loses-appeals-court-ruling-in-bacardi-havana-club-fight.html. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 
7. ^ "STATEMENT FROM BACARDI U.S.A., INC. ON THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS RULING REGARDING HAVANA CLUB RUM REGISTRATION" (HTML). Bacardí Limited. http://www.bacardilimited.com/news032911.html. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 

External links

• Official website

Companies portal