Maureen and I decided to take a long weekend trip to our homeland – Ireland. Specifically, we spent the long weekend in Dublin. The year before we had traveled to Dublin to visit our youngest daughter Elizabeth who was studying at Trinity University. During that trip, we visited the Guinness factory.
This time, we visited the Jameson distillery on Bow Street in Dublin. It is not a working factory any longer, but is more of a marketing facility. Since the 1970’s, Jameson has been distilled in Cork, at a distillery built by Irish Distillers for all their brands.
Since neither Maureen nor I drink whiskey, we were surprised how much we enjoyed the informative and entertaining tour which describes the making of whiskey and the history of this incredible company.
The Bow Street Distillery was originally founded by John Stein in 1780. That year – 1780 – is seen on all Jameson bottles. John Jameson was brought on as the General Manger of the distillery, though he didn’t take full ownership until 1805.
Jameson is now owned by a French Liquor Company, Pernod Ricard (RI.PA). Its principal brands include Absolut, Ballantine’s, Beefeater, Chivas Regal, Kahlúa, Malibu, Martell, and Brancott Estate. The company was founded in 1805 and is headquartered in Paris, France.
Pernod is the world’s second-largest spirits group behind Diageo – the British multinational alcoholic beverages company, with its headquarters in London. Pernod trades on the Paris stock exchange. The company acquired the Jameson brand when it purchased Irish Distillers in 1988. The company employs nearly 19,000 people worldwide.
When Pernod Ricard purchased Jameson, only half of its whiskey left the country, and about half a million cases were produced annually. Today 90% of the cases of Jameson produced are exported around the world. This expansion is possible due to company’s global distribution.
In 2018, annual sales for Jameson topped 7.3 million cases. Jameson is by far the best-selling Irish whiskey in the world, as it has been sold internationally since the early 19th century. It is now available in over 130 markets. This was its 29th consecutive year of growth and a 12% increase from the previous year.
This is the benefit of these large international conglomerates such as Pernod and Diageo. They can leverage their distribution channels by adding additional high-quality products sought by consumers around the world. This is another example of an international company that is available to investors on the global stock markets.
As we have stated in many posts, investors should start with owning all the publicly traded companies available to them. These international companies are some of the finest in the world and have products that consumers have wanted for many decades. As the global middle class continues to expand every year, these products will find new consumers as well.
If you squint you can see a banner on the bottle’s shield symbol that reads, “SINE METU.” It means “without fear.” The Jameson family was granted the motto for their bravery battling pirates in the 1500’s. Words to live by!
Hope you have a great week!
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