Despite doubling revenues every five years for the past two decades, family-owned spirits group Sazerac has long flown under the radar. But with its audacious takeover bid for bourbon giant Brown-Forman this year, the Kentucky-based company has announced itself as a major player in an industry that has long considered it little more than a convenient buyer of discarded brands.
Sazerac has overtaken Diageo as the leading spirits producer in the US, growing sales by 15 per cent in the year to June. Roughly half of that growth was driven by acquisitions, such as its 2024 purchase of popular alcopop Buzz Ballz, whose sales more than doubled last year according to S&P Global. The growth compares favourably with declines at illustrious rivals.
"It hasn't been an overnight success. It's been pretty consistent for the last 30 years," said Sazerac chief executive Jake Wenz, a former US Army lieutenant. Wenz said the company held prices steady during the pandemic-era boom while rivals raised them by double-digit percentages. Of Sazerac's 525 mainly US-focused brands, more than half are budget labels or sit at the low end of the premium range, a shift in spending that is working to its advantage.
Sazerac is not immune to a three-year downturn in consumption, and like the rest of the industry it has been lowering some prices to tempt back drinkers squeezed by inflation. Wenz dismissed concerns that the story is overblown, noting that some brands in the portfolio continue to do well even in a declining market. The company employs 8,000 people and made more than $6bn in annual revenue, about 70 per cent of it from the US.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing