Brown-Forman Corp. plans to spend about $20 million to market its Old Forrester bourbon band, in addition to $30 million it previously budgeted for a new distillery to produce Old Forester in Louisville, Ky.,
the
Wall Street Journal
reported.
Although sales of bourbon over the past five years have risen more than 35% in the U.S. and 50% overseas, Old Forester — which in 1972 sold 1 million cases — sold only 112,000 cases last year, the
Journal
article said. However, sales of the brand in restaurants and bars increased 40% in 2014 and are up 40% so far this year, the report noted.
The revival of Old Forester has been advocated by members of the Brown family, who control nearly 70% of the company, the
Journal
article said.
Fifth-generation family member Campbell Brown has been named president of the Old Forester brand, effective May 1 — the day before the Kentucky Derby,
Insider Louisville
reported.
Old Forester has replaced Early Times in Churchill Downs' mint julep mix, the official drink of the Derby, the report said.
Campbell Brown is a 20-year-veteran of the company and one of 11 fifth-generation family members working there, the
Journal
article said.
The signature of company founder George Garvin Brown is on the Old Forester bottle, the
Insider Louisville
report noted.
A subsequent
Insider Louisville
article
said Campbell Brown's promotion “sends a strong signal that the powerful Brown family, a Louisville dynasty, plans to preserve and build on its controlling stake in Brown-Forman at a key time for the company and the industry it helps define.” The Brown family controls 70% of the publicly traded company, the report noted.
Brown's new position was part of a restructuring that involved “more than 60 people changing jobs and 12 positions to be filled over the next few months,” the article said. Many of the new posts will be involved in establishing a stronger international presence for Old Forester. The realignment has also involved the elimination of 25 jobs at the company's Louisville headquarters; half are expected to be replaced with overseas positions, the article said.
The company previously had focused much of its marketing on its Jack Daniel's bourbon brand, which it acquired in 1956, the
Journal
article noted.
The
Journal
report said that the number of companies with distillery licenses in Kentucky has risen from 10 in 2011 to 26. Campbell Brown told the
Journal
that his family was “not going to watch this take place and not participate.” (Sources:
Wall Street Journal
, March 17, 2015;
Insider Louisville
, March 17, 2015 and March 19, 2015.)
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