Wild Turkey helps drive annual sales growth for Campari

Gruppo Campari, the parent of Lawrenceburg-based Wild Turkey, reported full-year net sales of $1.8 billion, a reported 6.2 percent increase in sales.

For the year, Campari reported adjusted group net profits of $200 million, up 20 percent over 2014.

Sales in the Americas, which are 42.3 percent of the total, were up 14.3 percent, with organic growth of 7 percent. Sales in Asia were up 7.2 percent, while sales in Europe were hampered by weakness in Russia.

Key drivers included the positive performance of Wild Turkey, double-digit growth of aperitifs Aperol and Campari, and Campari’s Jamaican rums, plus strong growth of Espolon, Frangelico and Carolans, the company said Tuesday. Skyy vodka also showed slightly positive performance.

Wild Turkey sales for the year were up 8.8 percent, driven by strong performance in its three core markets: the United States, Australia and Japan.

In the United States, Wild Turkey sales were up 7.6 percent, driven mainly by the core bourbon, which was up 11.8 percent. In Australia, the big driver was American Honey, which was up 8.6 percent, offsetting Honey’s slowdown elsewhere.

Last year, to drive brand growth, Campari introduced several premium Wild Turkey special releases: Master’s Keep, a 17-year-old bourbon; Russell’s Reserve 1988, a small batch; and Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye. The brand’s basic labels got new packaging, and Buckshot, a peppered maple bourbon whiskey, was launched in the United States, according to the company.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Wild Turkey helps drive annual sales growth for Campari."