Dive Brief:
- Diageo, the world's largest liquor company, reported a 1.5% drop in global sales in the most-recent quarter.
- Sales in North America slowed to 0.1% from 5.1% a year earlier for the maker of brands such as Johnny Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, Bushmills, and more.
- Revenue in China dropped 20%, but it's an improvement over the 50% drop seen a year earlier.
Dive Insight:
North America is Diageo's biggest and most profitable market, and sales there are moderating. China was once the company's fastest-growing market, but sales there just keep falling.
What's Diageo to do?
The company has bought the largest whiskey maker in the world's largest whiskey market, despite that company's twisted history with one the world's most problematic entrepreneurs. We should have an idea of how that's working out soon.