Jack Daniel’s parent Brown-Forman: Whiskey sales to Canada down 60% due to boycott
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Brown-Forman reported Q1 net sales down 3% to $924M, missing Wall Street estimates.
- U.S. and developed markets saw declines, offsetting gains in emerging regions.
- Company reaffirmed full-year outlook despite profit drop, layoffs and soft demand.
Jack Daniel’s parent Brown-Forman on Thursday reported sales continued to slide this summer, although at a slower rate then the previous year.
For the period ending July 31, net sales were down 3% to $924 million compared to the same period last year. Sales in the U.S. fell 8%, according to the company.
Operating income for the Louisville-based company was down 7% to $260 million, and diluted earnings per share fell 13% to $0.36.
Those numbers missed the consensus expectations of Wall Street, which estimated earnings per share of $0.37 (down 9.8% year over year.)
The big drag: continued declines in the U.S. and developed international markets, which more than offset net sales growth in emerging markets and the duty-free travel retail shops.
The company blamed soft consumer demand, impacted by economic and political uncertainty.
Net sales for Brown-Forman’s whiskey portfolio were flat despite strong initial shipments of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Blackberry in preparation for the Aug. 1 launch, offset by dropping sales of Jack Daniel’s core black label brand in the U.S. and in Germany and the United Kingdom, which are major whiskey-drinking markets overseas.
Premium brand Woodford Reserve was flat; Old Forester sales were up 8%, which is only half of last year’s same-quarter growth.
Even tequila, which has been growing, fell slightly, driven by lower U.S. sales in a very competitive landscape.
The bright spot: Ready-to-drink canned cocktails increased 6%, although there were declines in Canada, which is still largely boycotting American products, offsetting U.S. growth. The big driver is Brown-Forman’s tequila-based New Mix line of cocktails.
Sales in Canada are down nearly 60% so far this year for the company, said Lawson Whiting, Brown-Forman president and CEO.
“The trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada ... created significant headwinds to our first quarter organic net sales results,” he said. “While we were encouraged by recent discussions, American spirits products have been off the shelf in Canada for months. This had a significant impact on our first quarter of fiscal 2026 which will impact our full fiscal year results.”
Another big problem unique to Brown-Forman, he said: Used barrels sales have crashed, down 44%, as the demand in Scotch and Irish whisky has dried up. That’s likely to continue throughout the year, he said.
Despite that, the company said the outlook overall remains good and Whiting said he was pleased with the quarter.
“Our solid first-quarter performance reflects the decisive actions we’ve taken to strengthen our business in a challenging environment,” Whiting said in a news release. “Superior innovation and bold route-to-consumer strategies, in particular, have positioned us to deliver resilient results in the face of persistent headwinds. We are pleased to reaffirm our full-year outlook and remain confident in our ability to create long-term value for shareholders.”
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Blackberry, which is just reaching shelves, has had an “incredibly promising” launch and is poised to become a long-term growth driver, Whiting said.
“This one has a great natural mixer in lemonade. So that’s anecdotal, but I will tell you, blackberry and lemonade is a great drink,” Whiting said. “It’s been one of the best-tasting flavored whiskey things I’ve ever tried.”
And on the bright side, he said, while overall sales of Jack Daniel’s have fallen, the brand has picked up market share against competitors.
Brown-Forman predicts overall sales for fiscal 2026 will decline in the low single-digit range, with operating income also declining in the low single-digit range.
The company said fiscal year 2026 will “be challenging, with low visibility due to macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility as we face headwinds from consumer uncertainty, the potential impact from currently unknown tariffs and lower non-branded sales of used barrels.”
He said the same issues have been impacting competitors in the whiskey landscape, leading to an overall slowdown in the industry.
“Entrepreneurial brands are having a very hard time,” Whiting said. Even the big players have reduced production: “Everyone has throttled back.”
The company did not announce any new layoffs. The job cuts and buyouts announced earlier in the year cost Brown-Forman $31 million, according to the release.
In June, the company announced its fourth quarter and full-year sales were down significantly: For the fourth quarter, reported net sales fell 7% compared with the previous year, dropping to $894 million. Sales for the full year were down 5% compared with the same period for the previous year, at $4 billion.
Profits also were down 45% for the quarter and down 14% for the year.
That caused Brown-Forman shares to plummet, erasing a decade of stock market growth. Shares have dropped 18% from the beginning of the year and 32% in the last 12 months.
By mid-day Thursday, shares were down more than 4%.
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM.
