Constellation Brandsposted better-than-expected quarterly earnings Tuesday on price increases and strong sales of higher-profit products such as Clos du Bois wine, sending its shares up more than 5 percent.
Rob Sands, chairman and CEO of Constellation Brands, said the quarterly earnings were highlighted by a surge in North American sales growth and good profit recoveries in international markets.
Despite global economic troubles, however, the wine industry has remained a pretty stable venture, Sands said.
“I think that the wine industry growth has been fairly consistent for a relatively long time," he said. "In general, the business is what I would call non-cyclical."
Although wine sales have not suffered, he said he has seen a change in where people are buying their wine. He said consumers are purchasing wine more from mass merchants and less from grocers and restaurants.