News
Diageo said to be exploring sale of Pimm's
The report states that Diageo is working with Rothschild & Co to explore the market for Pimm’s, Safari and Pampero, although the process is said to still be in the early stages.
Pimm’s was founded in 1840 by London bar owner James Pimm, and became part of Diageo in 1997 following the merging of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness plc. Styled as a quintessentially British liqueur, Pimm’s is made using gin and a combination of botanicals, caramelised orange and spices.
Meanwhile, Safari is a fruit liqueur produced in the Netherlands and Pampero is a premium Venezuelan rum.
Following the publication of the reports, Food Manufacture reached out to Diageo and Rothschild & Co for confirmation but is yet to receive a response from Diageo, while Rothschild & Co simply said "no comment".
Diageo released its results for the six months up to 31 December 2023 at the end of last month (January 2024), which revealed the firm had suffered a new sales decline worth $158m. Meanwhile, operating profits fell by 11% year-on-year to $3.3bn.
Speaking at the time of the firm’s most recent results, chief executive Debra Crew said: “The first half of fiscal 24 was challenging for Diageo and our sector, particularly as we lapped strong growth in the prior year and faced an uneven global consumer environment.”
Looking forward though, Crew said that “we expect to deliver improvement in organic net sales and organic operating profit growth at the group level, compared to the first half”.
Earlier this week, Diageo announced the appointment Julie Brown as a non-executive director, effective from 5 August 2024. Brown will succeed Alan Stewart as chair of the Audit Committee, who will retire from the board immediately prior to the group’s AGM in September.
In other news, the UK Government is investing £12m in an alternative protein research centre focused on fermentation-based foods located at Imperial College London.
