COMPANY DESCRIPTION

The Jack Daniel’s brand is produced by the Brown-Forman Corporation. Brown-Forman produces and markets many of the most well-known and best-loved wines and spirits in the world. Some of their popular spirits include Jack Daniel’s, Canadian Mist, Southern Comfort, Gentleman Jack, and Early Times. A few of their wine labels include Fetzer, Bolla, Bel Arbor, and Michel Picard. The Brown-Forman Corporation is one of the largest American-owned companies in the wine and spirits business. They are considered a top diversified producer and marketer of fine quality consumer products within their industry. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Brown-Forman was founded in 1870 by George Brown and John Forman as small town distillery producing Old-Forester brand bourbon. They compete in the distillery industry that includes about eighty companies with combined annual revenues of $ 6 billion. Today, the company employs approximately 3800 people in the U.S. and abroad. For fiscal year 2008, the Brown-Forman company had sales revenue of approximately $ 3.3 billion with a net income of $ 440 million.
In 1956, Brown-Forman purchased the Lynchburg, Tennessee-based Jack Daniel’s. They maintained the simple black Jack Daniel’s label. The Brown-Forman Corporation has found global success by introducing Jack Daniels to overseas markets. The Jack Daniel’s product is the company’s leading brand and is the largest selling American whiskey by volume in the world. Brown-Forman has been able to grow the Jack Daniel’s brand in the U.S. and internationally through building a strong brand strategy. They have built their success through promoting the image of a small town Tennessee distillery for the brand with strong company’s values which has worked within in their international expansion as well.
The company continued to expand its alcohol and non-beverage line throughout the years. Some notable acquisitions included Canadian Mist in 1971 and a top-selling liqueur Southern Comfort in 1979. In 1988, they launched Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey which was the first new whiskey to come from its Jack Daniels distillery in more than 100 years. The company also expanded through non-beverage acquisitions including Lenox (maker of fine china, crystal, and gifts) and Dansk International Design (maker of china and crystal). However, in 2007, the company decided to solely focus on their alcoholic beverage business and sold all its remaining non-alcohol related business units.
Today, the company continues to experience success for their brands through the promotion of their strong company values, corporate governance practices, social integrity, and international strategies.