Changes at Marie-Brizard
5 avril 2000
Marie-Brizard, which controls Gautier cognac at Aigre, has been acquired by the British investment fund Duke Street Capital.

Bisquit and Martell : cognac houses for sale ?
29 mars 2000
Patrick Ricard, chairman of the Pernod-Ricard group, announced last week in Dublin, Ireland, that he is considering the sale of the Renault-Bisquit cognac house (70 employees at Rouillac, turnover of 220 million francs) as soon as he receives "an interesting offer". In another move the English newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph, reported on Sunday that the Seagram group intends to sell the Martell cognac house (497 employees, turnover of 1.8 billion francs). The paper named three potential buyers for the cognac house : Allied Domecq (Courvoisier), Bacardi-Martini (Otard) and Brown Foreman. Both stories were denied the following day but without dispelling all doubts.

Cognac : chairman of Courvoisier accuses
29 mars 2000
Yesterday the chairman of Courvoisier, Philippe Treutenaere, denounced the spiral of ever lower prices in the cognac industry during the AGM of the SICA des Baronnies. He was particularly critical of "unfair competition" by companies which purchase eaux-de-vie at very low prices.

Hennessy : employee concerns
29 mars 2000
Worried about the project to create an IT center for Moët-Hennessy at Epernay, staff representatives at Hennessy triggered the alert procedure on Monday to force management to provide written answers to their questions. The company has insisted that this reorganization will have no effect on jobs.

Remy-Martin ahead of Martell
22 mars 2000
Business at Remy-Martin improved last year whereas Martell continued to lose market share. Remy-Martin (1.4 million cases) moves into second place in the cognac house rankings behind Hennessy (2.9) and ahead of Martell (1.3) and Courvoisier (1.1). The first four leading houses represent 72 % of the market.

Cognac campaign in Moscow
22 mars 2000
A promotional week for cognac is being organized this week in Moscow by an importer, the Russian company Rossisskaïa vinnovodotchanaïa Kompania.

Pernod-Ricard : increased turnover
22 mars 2000
The Pernod-Ricard group, which controls Bisquit cognac at Rouillac, has seen its net profits rise by 5.5 % and trading profits by 6.6 %. Nevertheless, profits are rising more slowly than turnover whose growth is remarkable : +14.4 %.

New Hennessy cocktail
22 mars 2000
Hennessy has launched a new cocktail, the "Hennessy Clover" for St Patrick’s Day. The presentation took place on the Quays in Cognac.

Rémy-Martin backing gastronomy
22 mars 2000
Rémy-Martin is joining forces with some of the great names in French cuisine to launch the idea of meals served with cognac in a move to attract new customers in restaurants.

From horses to cognac
22 mars 2000
Twice horse-riding champion of France, two years ago Marie-Laure Saint Martin took over the reins of the family trading house Remy Tourny (7 employees at Louzac Saint André).