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A US ban on certain Canadian imports, including spirits, wine and malt beer, took effect September 29 after Trump announced it on September 8. The Toasts Not Tariffs coalition, representing 59 national and state beverage alcohol organizations, renewed its call for a negotiated resolution; per Discus, US spirits exports to Canada fell 70% from $232 million to $72 million between March and December 2025 after Canadian provinces pulled American alcohol.
The Spirits Business |
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The Glenfiddich owner said 2025 sales fell 3.8% to GBP1.76bn (US$2.32bn) and pre-tax profit dropped 13% to GBP337m, a second consecutive annual decline after 2024's 6.5% sales fall and 30% profit slump. The privately held group cited brand investment and the July 2025 purchase of The Famous Grouse from Edrington; CFO Graeme Jenkins called 2025 "another challenging year for the spirits industry."
Drinks Intel |
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U.S. wine exports to Canada dropped 78% last year, from about $460 million in 2024 to $103 million in 2025, per the Wine Institute, with California making up more than 95% of U.S. wine exports. American wine remains pulled from Canadian store shelves everywhere except Alberta and Saskatchewan, roughly a year and a half into the tariff fight, after Canada was the top importer of U.S. wine.
Spectrum News |
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The total U.S. spirits market is projected to reach 313.4 million 9-liter cases in 2026, a 31st consecutive annual gain, with pre-packaged cocktails set for another double-digit increase, per Shanken's Impact Databank. Excluding RTS/RTDs, the spirits market is expected to decline for a fourth straight year, and both the Bourbon and Tequila categories are projected to fall in 2026 on economic pressure and softness in higher-priced segments.
Shanken News Daily |
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Scotch whisky distilleries across Scotland are pausing production as global demand has slumped, to avoid adding to a supply glut that the industry calls a "whisky loch," the whisky equivalent of a "wine lake."
SupplyChainBrain |
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Rémy Cointreau moved to issue its first-ever hybrid bond on Wednesday, taking on a costlier type of debt that could help it hold onto its investment-grade rating during a turnaround effort.
Bloomberg |
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Molson Coors is rolling out Coors 0.0 across the US with a full-year plan of partnerships, influencers, national media, sampling and retail activation, after the brand became the Northeast's number one non-alcoholic beer innovation by volume year-to-date for the week ending 6/9/26, per Circana. The company also said it will make alcohol-free RTD Naked Life, priced at $9.99 with under 10 calories a can, nationally available to distributors in 2027, and launched a non-alcoholic version of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.
BeverageDaily |
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Super Lyte, from Stateside Brands, is pacing to beat the previous top spirits-based RTD launch by four times its first-year sales, per Brewbound.
Brewbound |
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Molson Coors confirmed it will shut the Sharp's brewery in Cornwall, England, by the end of the year, cutting up to 40 jobs at the site it bought for £20m in 2011. UK brewer Camerons has agreed heads of terms to take on Sharp's cask brands including Doom Bar and Atlantic Pale Ale, while keg and packaged production shifts to Molson Coors' Burton and Tadcaster breweries.
Just Drinks |
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A fire on 30 September destroyed several vacant buildings at Glenns Creek Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, including historic rickhouses and a storage facility at the former Old Crow Distillery site, but officials confirmed no spirits were stored in the lost buildings and no staff were injured. Woodford County judge-executive James Kay said the destroyed areas were not in operation and the distillery's production areas were unaffected, though the site lost power; the cause is still under investigation.
The Spirits Business |
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First Growth Brands, owner of the Crémant de Limoux brand Faire la Fête, has signed a 10-year exclusive partnership with BGPL USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Barton & Guestier.
Wine Industry Advisor |
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Lyre's is adding the Seattle Seahawks' Lumen Field to its stadium concession lineup for the 2026-27 football season, extending the non-alcoholic brand's presence in professional sports venues.
BevNET |
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Pacific Rim Winery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has asked the court to let it abandon 188,000 gallons of wine.
winebusiness |
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California officials have declared a new glassy-winged sharpshooter infestation in Folsom, in Sacramento County, where 20 adults have been found since June with no other life stages detected. Sacramento County currently has 523 grape production sites.
winebusiness |
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Royal Swinkels is moving into non-alcoholic wine, with Flemming Morth, the brewer's head of new drinks, setting out the company's confidence in the category.
Just Drinks |
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Chehalem, owned by Stoller Wine Group, has bought the former Pamplin Family Winery property next to Chehalem Estate in a 43.81-acre deal, bringing its total holdings to a 255-acre wine campus.
The Business Journals |
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Avennia, a Woodinville winery that distributes to about 20 states, is acquiring Washington competitor Gramercy Cellars. The deal lifts Avennia's annual production from 10,000 cases to roughly 18,000 and adds more than 1,000 wine club members.
The Business Journals |
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Pernod Ricard India CMO Debashree Das Gupta told ET Hospitality that whisky keeps growing in India even as global alcohol trends soften, with consumers moving beyond whisky-soda to highballs, Whisky Sours, Old Fashioneds and neat pours as the country's bar scene matures. She said the India-UK Free Trade Agreement could open the wider whisky market, not just cheaper Scotch, benefiting Indian whisky, Indian single malts, Japanese whisky, Irish whiskey and bourbon, and framed the next battleground as drinking occasions, including third spaces like festivals and concerts where RTDs fit.
ET Hospitality |
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Mars has halted marketing of the 15% ABV Pop-Tarts/BuzzBallz collaboration, which came in "Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon" and "Frosted S'mores" flavors, and committed that Pop-Tarts will not enter another co-branding deal with an alcohol company, per a U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance release following a September 25 meeting between three Mars executives and five public health groups. The partnership with Sazerac predated Mars's 2025 acquisition of Pop-Tarts parent Kellanova; USAPA said Mars "regrets" the collaboration, and Sazerac, which owns BuzzBallz, made no such commitment.
Fingers |
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Bero co-founder and CEO John Herman told Global Drinks Intel the US non-alc beer segment, now around $2bn a year and under 2% of total beer, is on course to double to $4bn by 2030, with the on-premise rising to 70%-75% of volumes from 45%-50% now. Herman said Bero added a glass bottle in August to stand out in higher-end on-premise settings, and that two-thirds of its drinkers are under 45, versus about 45% for the segment leader.
Drinks Intel |
