Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Anti-French feeling forces Pernod to delay Martell relaunch in US

Susie Mesure
Thursday 20 March 2003 01:00 GMT
Comments

The wave of anti-French sentiment that has swept across the US in the wake of President Jacques Chirac's opposition to an Iraqi war has prompted Pernod Ricard to consider delaying the American relaunch of its Martell cognac.

The French drinks group, which acquired the upmarket cognac brand from Canada's Seagram a year ago, had planned to start selling Martell in the US shortly. But Patrick Ricard, the chairman, admitted yesterday: "If there is a lot of anti-French sentiment, we will wait a little before launching it." Analysts regard Martell, which suffered from overstocking under Seagram's ownership, as one of the company's key growth drivers.

Despite calls from right wing groups across America for consumers to boycott French goods, Mr Ricard said his company was not particularly vulnerable. "There may be anti-French sentiment in rural America, but that is not where we do most of our sales," he said.

Buoyed by advertising campaigns in newspapers such as The Washington Times, the House of Representatives has re-christened French Fries "Freedom Fries". It has also changed the prefix on French toast and French salad dressing.

Mr Ricard's comments came as the French group beat analysts' forecasts with a 15 per cent rise in net profit for 2002 of €413m (£280m). Sales increased 6 per cent to €4.8bn.

Separately, Interbrew, the Belgian brewer that makes Stella Artois, signalled an end to its recent ambitious acquisitions spree, that saw it snap up Bass and Whitbread in the UK. It posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of €1.4bn, a fall of nearly 10 per cent. Sales slipped 4 per cent to €7bn.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in