Despite the uncertainties that the tariffs are causing around the world, and the changing travel choices of tourists across the Americas, Pernod Ricard is positioned to weather any storm in the Americas Travel Retail market, Greg Ford, General Manager, Travel Retail Americas at Pernod Ricard tells TMI in a meeting at the 2025 Summit of the Americas in Miami.
“I think that the market will continue to be really competitive in pricing. I don’t see that changing in the short term, maybe in the medium term. I think ultimately it is very tough at the moment, but we are lucky, and in a good position, because we have very strong brands with a lot of history in the region. We feel pretty well armored to deal with the storm,” says Ford.
Central and South America, and the Caribbean are the strongest growth opportunities for Pernod Ricard in the region, says Ford.
“People are more buoyant about what could happen in Argentina, which has been a difficult market for us. Post-pandemic, we had a huge boom there and then a huge drop. So we’ll be closely watching that business. The engines of growth for us have been really solid, whether in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, or Mexico. We were heading in the right direction in Canada, and now we don’t know. And the U.S. trucks along, pretty steady.”
Cruise
Cruise continues to be a focus for Pernod Ricard, with four powerhouse brands leading the way for the company.
“Cruise continues to be a very solid, double digit growth market for us,” says Ford.
“We have four brands that sell 75% of our volume in the cruise lines: Jameson, Malibu, Kahlúa and Absolut. Those four brands are the backbone of our cruise business. Jameson is a huge brand for us in cruise lines, specifically because of the American passenger domination of the industry. Jameson has become increasingly popular for us and increasingly important. And now with the extensions of range, with Black Barrel, and with Triple Triple in the airports, it’s always a focus for us. But in the cruise lines it is a mega focus,” says Ford.
For St. Patrick’s Day this year, Pernod Ricard executed an all-day Irish bar takeover of O’Malley’s on Royal Caribbean.
“We’re working with Heinemann for a retail perspective as well. We will bring the same communications to life across both platforms, together with a 360 degree activation. It will be supported through Jameson communications, and we’ll be driving people from the bar to the retail space,” says Aisling Tobin, Head of Marketing Global Travel Retail Americas at Pernod Ricard.
For the first time ever, Jameson is inviting bartenders from the cruise segment to participate in the Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Series, to create an unforgettable cocktail experience with Jameson Black Barrel at its heart.
Two regional cruise winners will then go on a three-day, all-expenses-paid trip to the Midleton Distillery in Ireland, home of Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey, along with 100+ global bar community members to attend the ‘Jameson HOSTS Global Summit’ in September 2025.
Pernod Ricard is also creating cruise exclusives for its brands.
“We’ll be launching an exclusive Royal Caribbean Malibu edition bottle, incorporating some of the Royal Caribbean iconography into the packaging. Malibu is a key driver for us with Royal Caribbean, and Malibu is such a critical brand for cruise, so that’s been a really exciting opportunity,” says Tobin.
In 2023, Pernod Ricard Travel Retail Americas exclusively partnered with Celebrity Cruises to feature Rabbit Hole Distillery on the Celebrity Ascent, with three Heigold Single Barrels from the Artist Series Single Barrel Program, created especially for Celebrity Ascent. Tobin says there are plans to continue this partnership.
Other brands in the Pernod Ricard spirits portfolio are also thriving on cruise.
“Skrewball has been a bit of a runaway success on cruise. We also have Bumbu rum, which is very versatile, which is helping us on cruise. We’ve listed it with a couple of our cruise partners, and they have put it into many placings and drinks offerings,” says Tobin.
Royal Salute 21 Year Old Rio de Janeiro Polo Edition
Following the success of Royal Salute 21 Year Old Miami Polo Edition, the company has now launched the 21 Year Old Rio de Janeiro Polo Edition. The latest edition in the series became available exclusively with Avolta in Brazil on April 1 in limited quantities at Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport and São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport.
“The Brazil domestic market does massive growth numbers on Royal Salute, so we are definitely seeing the impact of that domestic popularity in the airport. Miami Polo Edition is playing a disrupter role and with Rio now with Avolta, we’re just so excited,” says Tobin.
The two latest Royal Salute Polo editions are prime examples of how Pernod Ricard are focusing on high profile, impactful activations across the region.
“We are consistently investing behind brands that are going to add value to the consumers, and to the customer’s business. We are in a market that’s obviously been quite volatile. We can inject growth with a number of these brands in a way that others probably can’t. We’ve activated more than we ever have and the scale of the activations that we’re doing are consistently very strong,” says Ford.
