Diageo

ABOUT THIS COMPANY:

High Spirits

As the world's largest producer of alcoholic beverages, Diageo's portfolio boasts a plethora of globally renowned brands and staples of bars and liquor cabinets. Perhaps highest esteemed among these is pub favorite Guinness, brewer of the richly dark stout synonymous with Irish tradition and St. Patrick's Day. The world over, the act of dispensing Guinness is considered a sacred ritual—the company’s own brewmaster, Fergal Murray, refers to it as “theater,” and regularly travels the globe to demonstrate how bartenders should “be reverent to the pint” when serving the iconic drink on tap. Current estimates say that approximately 10 million pints of Guinness are served up each day; that number jumps to at least 13 million on St. Paddy's, which works out to 150 pints poured every second over the 24 hour period. To meet this level of demand, the original St. James Gate brewery alone produces 810 million pints a year, with more Diageo-operated plants located around the globe.

And it certainly doesn't end with beer. Diageo is also home to several worldwide leaders in liquor: Smirnoff (No. 1 premium vodka), Johnnie Walker and J&B (the No. 1 and No. 3 Scotch whiskeys, respectively), Jose Cuervo (No. 1 tequila) and Captain Morgan (No. 2 rum); meanwhile, fellow Ireland export Baileys Irish Cream holds the title of the world's top-selling liqueur, accounting for more than half of the volume of spirits exported from the Emerald Isle.  Also among Diageo's properties is its 34 percent ownership of Moët Hennessy, LMVH’s liquor division.  Altogether, Diageo beverages are served in more than 180 countries and sales of its products are split quite evenly among North America, Europe and the rest of the world.  With its place in the global market firmly secured, Diageo has nowhere to go but up: in 2010, the company enjoyed a 5 percent increase in net sales for a total of £9.78 billion, compared to the previous year's £9.31 billion.