SPI Group and William Grant & Sons Agree to Not Renew Contract
for Stolichnaya in USA
NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/
-- William Grant &
Sons and SPI Group announce that their current contract for the
importation, distribution and marketing of Stolichnaya Vodka in
the United States will not be
renewed when it expires on December
31, 2013. The decision is a result of SPI Group's
desire to manage its portfolio of brands directly; SPI Group will
therefore be establishing its own importing company in the United States during 2013, commencing
operations on 1st January
2014.
"Stoli is a remarkable and storied vodka, the crown jewel of the
SPI Group and the fastest growing premium vodka in the world,"
shared Val Mendeleev, CEO, SPI Group. "As a Company with strong
entrepreneurial spirit, the time has come for us to make our path
forward on our own in the US. We are therefore delighted to
announce that we will be creating our own importing company. We
thank William Grant & Sons for
their contributions to Stoli, we wish them well on their owned
brands, and we look forward to what will be a continuing future of
innovation and success for the Stolichnaya brand."
William Grant & Sons assumed
responsibility for the importation, distribution and marketing of
the iconic Stolichnaya brand, often referred to as Stoli, in
January 2009. Despite a very
challenging economy and heavy competition within the spirits
industry, William Grant & Sons
and the SPI team returned the trailblazing brand to growth through
pioneering initiatives including new creative that declared the
Most Original People Deserve The Most Original Vodka, and developed
innovative 360 degrees programming to bring that message
to life.
"Stoli is an excellent brand and we are proud of the many
accomplishments William Grant &
Sons has contributed to the success it has enjoyed, and for the
part we have played in the history of this iconic brand," stated
Simon Hunt, President & Managing
Director – North America, William
Grants & Sons. "We wish SPI Group the very best for the future
of Stolichnaya. As for William Grant
& Sons, our owned brands are enjoying unparalleled success,
with growth in double digits on all of our core global brands. We
are excited for the future and will now be focusing our attentions
to continuing to grow those remarkable and celebrated brands."
About WGS
William Grant & Sons, Ltd. is
an independent family-owned distiller headquartered in the
United Kingdom and founded by
William Grant in 1887. Today, the
luxury spirits company is run by the fifth generation of his family
and distills some of the world's leading brands of Scotch whisky,
including the world's most awarded single malt
Glenfiddich®, The Balvenie® range of
handcrafted single malts and the world's third largest blended
Scotch Grant's® as well as other iconic spirits brands
such as Hendrick's® Gin, Sailor Jerry® Rum,
Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey and Milagro® Tequila.
Among the most recent accolades for the well-awarded company,
William Grant & Sons was honored
as the "Distiller of the Year" by the International Wine &
Spirit Competition for the second year running and the fourth time
since 1999. When counted along with the same designation from the
International Spirits Challenge, William
Grant & Sons has received this title an unprecedented
nine times in the past 12 years.
Founded in 1964, William Grant
& Sons USA is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of William Grant &
Sons, Ltd. and features one of the fastest growing spirits
portfolios in the USA with brands
including Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Hendrick's Gin, Sailor Jerry
Rum, Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey, Milagro Tequila, Stolichnaya
Vodka, Grant's, Hudson Whiskey, Gibson's Finest, Monkey Shoulder, Clan
MacGregor, Reyka Vodka, Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur, Lillet, Art
In The Age, The Knot, Raynal French
Brandy, and BOLS cordials. The company has offices in
New York City (sales and
marketing) and Edison, NJ
(bottling and warehouse facilities). For more information on the
company and its brands, please visit www.grantusa.com.
About SPI Group
SPI Group (headquartered in Luxembourg) is the owner of global vodka
brands such as the iconic Stolichnaya® Premium vodka range, elit™
by Stolichnaya® and Moskovskaya®. Founded in 1997, SPI operates
across over 160 markets and is one of the world's leading wines and
spirits organizations active in the production, sale and
distribution of more than 380 brands, many of which it owns. The
group also operates a network of 75 alcohol retail shops, develops
large-scale real estate projects and farms ca.5,000 hectares of
agricultural land in Russia. SPI
Group has been a strong acquirer and integrator of spirits and wine
companies, having completed 15 acquisitions of producers,
importers, distributors and retailers of beverages.
SPI's own ultra-modern raw alcohol distillery in Russia is illustrative of the dedication the
group has towards all its brands. Stoli's remarkable reputation has
been built through a strong focus on quality and ownership of the
entire production process. Exceptional purity is achieved by using
only the highest quality ingredients and quadruple filtration,
whilst bold character is retained by adhering to Stolichnaya
traditions of only three times distillation yielding a liquid with
complex layers of aroma and flavour.
SOURCE William Grant & Sons,
Ltd.