Diageo and Stock Spirits Form Partnership in Czech Republic
Diageo and Stock Spirits Group, a leading Central and Eastern Europe branded spirits and liqueurs business, have announced an agreement for the future distribution of Diageo’s portfolio of premium brands in the Czech Republic. This agreement is effective from January 19, 2014.
As part of the agreement, Stock Spirits Group will be the exclusive distributor within the Czech Republic of an important part of Diageo’s portfolio of brands, including Johnnie Walker and J&B whiskies, Smirnoff vodka, Captain Morgan and Baileys Irish Cream.
Stephen Morley, managing director Russia and Eastern Europe at Diageo, says: “Diageo has a strong and growing presence in developing markets around the world, with great opportunities for faster growth, and certainly the Czech Republic and this new partnership will play an important role in realizing these ambitions.”
The ‘Reserve’ portfolio of Diageo luxury brands will continue to be distributed by its current partner Ultra Premium Brands.
Chris Heath, chief executive of Stock Spirits, comments: “We are very pleased that a highly respected business like Diageo recognises the strength of our distribution platform in the Czech Republic and we are delighted to be working in one of our core markets with more premium brands. This will complement our existing strong portfolio and enable us to offer an even better range of premium products to our customers.”
Stock holds the market leadership positions in spirits in both Poland and the Czech Republic, where it has invested in what is believed to be state-of-the-art production facilities, and is one of the world’s leading vodka producers. This includes having the number one leading vodka brands in Poland,Italy and the Czech Republic. Core Stock brands include products made to long-established recipes such as Stock brandy, Fernet Stock bitters and Limonce, as well as more recent creations like Stock Prestige and Czysta de Luxe vodkas.
Stock was created through the integration of Eckes & Stock and Polmos Lublin in 2008 and recently floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Global sales volumes currently total over 140 million litres per year.
