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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Business Decisions S kyy Spirits will change its pub- lic identity in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico to Campari America. The name change simul- taneously aligns the company more closely with its Milan-headquartered parent corporation and its affi li- ates, collectively known as Gruppo Campari, and better refl ects the full scale of San Francisco–based Campari America's growing spirits portfolio. "Even though our portfolio has grown over the past several years to include vodkas, rums, whiskies, tequilas, cordials and liqueurs, the Skyy Spirits company name was inherently associated with only one brand—SKYY Vodka," says Gerry Ruvo, Campari America Chairman and CEO. "We felt the time was right to make the switch to Campari America, further demon- strating the breadth and depth of our products, while at the same time more closely associating ourselves with the vast resources of our parent company." As a result of recent regulatory changes in the State of Washington, Sidney Frank Importing Company (SFIC) has appointed Southern Wine & Spirits of Washington as its exclusive spirits and Wyoming for SFIC's wine brands as it commences exclusive distribution in Oregon as well. Pernod Ricard USA has appointed Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. as its spirits and wine distributor in the state of Washington, effective this month. Martin Crane, Senior Vice President, Sales, Pernod Ricard USA, says the move coincides with the privatization of Washington's market, as Southern previously had been Pernod Ricard's broker in the state. "This appointment further enhances our powerful Route to Market, which now includes relationships with Southern Wine and Spirits in 28 markets across the U.S.," Crane says. grew 1,000 percent from 2010. The focus for 2012 is expanding consumer awareness and brand visibility, and increasing on and off premise account penetration in all markets served. Patrón Spirits announces the launch of the fi rst brand extension for the highly successful Patrón XO Cafe coffee liqueur line. Available in the fi rst quarter of 2012, the new Patrón XO Cafe Dark Cocoa combines high- quality Patrón Silver Tequila and the light essence of coffee with an extraor- dinary chocolate fl avor to create an ultra-premium liqueur. Fergie says, "I'm excited about my new partnership with Voli Light Vodka, a company that understands the modern girl on the go. Voli's innovative and delicious low-calorie vodkas mean I can have my workouts not be ruined by a night out. J'adore Voli!" distributor in the state, effective this month in the on-premise and June 1, 2012 in the off-premise. For Sidney Frank Importing's wine brands in Washington, Southern will be the exclusive distributor for both chan- nels of trade as of this month. Additionally, effective this month, Southern—trading as Southern Wine & Spirits-Pacifi c Northwest Brokerage—will be the exclusive spirits broker in the control states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming for SFIC. Southern will exclusively serve as the broker in Utah 12 / the tasting panel / march 2012 Six-time Grammy-award winning art- ist Fergie is a new partner and owner of Voli Loght Vodkas. "2012 is proving to be a very exciting year for Voli. As a brand that appeals to women as well as men, it has always been our goal to align with a vibrant, fun and sexy female such as Fergie," says Adam Kamenstein, CEO of Voli Light Vodkas. Voli experienced strong growth in 2011 increasing availability to more than 40 markets, exporting to Asia and Latin America, and sales volume Pernod Ricard USA and BAR, LLC, leaders in bartender education, have just completed their milestone 25th BarSmarts LIVE event in Portland, OR this past December. Since the program's inception in 2008, the award-winning BarSmarts Live event has hosted more than 2,500 bartending and mixology enthusiasts from Boston to Los Angeles and Chicago to Austin. BarSmarts ADVANCED targets the mixology community in major markets who are committed to the profession of bartending. It is deliv- ered to a select audience in the target markets through an exclusive home study kit that includes a workbook, mixology equipment (where legal) and instructions on how to complete the online pre-course work. The program culminates with BarSmarts LIVE event for the program's top performers in each market. The event is hosted by the esteemed BAR, LLC partners who include world renowned spirit experts and mixolo- gists Dale DeGroff, Steve Olson, Doug Frost, F. Paul Pacult, Andy Seymour and David Wondrich. BarSmarts WIRED is the more broad-reaching, 100% online format of the highly acclaimed program. More than 4,000 bartenders globally have participated in this web-based bartender program.