The Brown-Forman Corporation is one of the largest American-owned companies in the spirits and wine business.
Some well-known brands of the corporation include Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Canadian Mist, Early Times, Old Forester, Korbel champagne, Fetzer wine.
The company was founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown, a young pharmaceuticals salesman in Louisville, who had the then-novel idea of selling top-grade whiskey in sealed glass bottles. Since then, it has grown into a company that in fiscal 2006 had sales of $2.4 billion. The Brown family controls more than 70% of the voting shares.
Brown Forman has two classes of common stock, both of which are traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. The Class A shares carry voting privileges and are thinly traded due to control by the Brown family while the Class B shares are Non-voting stock.
Brown-Forman is a diversified producer of fine quality consumer products. It was founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown in Louisville, KY, U.S. His original brand, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, was America's first bottled bourbon and remains one of Brown-Forman's finest brands today. Geo. Garvin Brown IV, a descendant of the founder, is part of the 5th generation of Brown Family members engaged with the company and serves as the Presiding Chairman of the Board.
Brown-Forman employs 4,120 people worldwide with about 1,000 located in Louisville. Brown-Forman, one of the largest American-owned spirits and wine companies and among the top 10 largest global spirits companies, sells its brands in more than 135 countries and has offices in cities across the globe. In all, Brown-Forman has more than 25 brands in its portfolio of wines and spirits.
We choose to be responsible in everything we do. Not only is it the right thing to do, it is also the source of business opportunity, stronger relationships, innovation, and growth.
Here we report on our social and environmental ambitions, goals, and performance. We define our key issues, explain our management approach, and provide data, examples and links to further sources.
We produce a full length, on-line Corporate Responsibility Report every two years. This website includes information from our 2009-2010 report with updated metrics and case studies. Data from our 2009-2010 report has been archived and is available here. We will publish our next full report in Summer 2011.
This site is supported by our printed publication, On Being Responsible, which primarily describes our most significant corporate responsibility issue: the work we do to promote responsible drinking and reduce the misuse and abuse of beverage alcohol.
An important part of that work is reflected in our Our Thinking About Drinking: The Issues Forum, where our perspective and positions on alcohol topics are shared and your opinion and comments are encouraged.
Objectives
To fuel economic prosperity, growth for the community, and retention of the best and brightest employees. To maintain the reputation of a strong corporate citizen to help recruit and retain quality employees.
Process
Brown-Forman often uses artistic venues and sponsorships to entertain and host customers and clients in the community. They also feature Brown-Forman products at art venues to combine their brand-building efforts with its philanthropic giving.
Brown-Forman sponsors the Louisville Ballet’s annual holiday performance of The Nutcracker. They also added a Community Night performance, where 2,400 children and adults from local social service agencies are able to experience The Nutcracker at no cost.
Through corporate sponsorships of key programs and performances, employees are offered discounted tickets or are invited to attend special performances.
Brown-Forman donated eight floors of their Kentucky office building to the Fund for the Arts to be used for ArtSpace. ArtSpace includes the Brown Theatre, classrooms, a non-profit business incubator, rehearsal hall, and costume shop.
Employee involvement in our environmental stewardship efforts makes a huge positive impact. Green Teams at Sonoma-Cutrer and the Jack Daniel Distillery engage in employee-led activities that address environmental issues. The Green Team at Jack Daniel Distillery implemented programs to recycle materials from both production operations as well as offices to reduce the amount of material going to landfill.
At our global headquarters in Louisville, KY, employees engage in activities such as carpooling or biking to work to reduce vehicular emissions that contribute to air pollution on days known as "Ozone Action Days". These days are determined by local officials when there exists a greater risk for increased concentrations of air pollution, including ground level ozone.
Employees also participate in ridesharing for commuting to work and business travel. Participation in this program allows employees to share rides, reduces the environmental impact from vehicular emissions, reduces the cost of travel, and offers the opportunity for business networking.
For car rentals originating in Louisville, employees are required to rent a hybrid vehicle through a special partnership with our preferred rental agency. This rental program is in addition to the eight company-leased hybrids that are used for daily business travel in our field sales and executive fleets.
George Garvin Brown and John Forman founded the Brown-Forman Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1870. At the outset, Brown-Forman marketed Old Forester bourbon. Before Brown and Forman marketed their own brand, bourbon had been sold to taverns in barrels, and bartenders decanted the alcohol into special bottles with the name of the tavern on the label. Brown poured the bourbon into bottles at the distillery, corked and sealed the bottles, labeled them, and warned taverns not to buy the bourbon if the seals were broken. As an additional innovation, all of the labels were handwritten and included a guarantee on the quality of the bourbon. Old Forester sold well as a result of these innovations--but Forman was dubious: in 1902 he sold his interest in the Brown-Forman Distillery because he believed that Brown-Forman's success would diminish as soon as the novelty of packaging began to fade. The Brown family purchased all of Forman's interest in the company.
In 1905 Brown-Forman continued its packaging innovations by bottling Old Forester in pear-shaped bottles. Old Forester's tavern sales increased significantly as a result. These increased sales led to a certain amount of bitterness among other distillers in Kentucky. Some competitors went so far as to slip iron nails into barrels of Brown-Forman whiskey to make it turn black.
Brown-Forman's bourbon was aged in barrels in large warehouses. At that time, warehouses were not heated, and labels on bourbon bore the expression 'summers old,' a reference to the fact that bourbon can age only in a warm climate. As a result, during the early decades of the 20th century it took many years for the bourbon to be prepared for the market. Consequently, the word 'old' became a common prefix in any brand name of bourbon.
Old Forester, produced, marketed, and distributed by Brown-Forman, continued to be very successful under the private ownership of the Brown family, which had no plans to diversify. All the company's advertising concentrated on marketing Old Forester, which it promoted as a product that would restore health: 'Many, many times a day, eminent physicians say, Old Forester will life prolong and make old age hale and strong.' Although this advertising was effective, Prohibition threatened to close Brown-Forman. To prevent this from happening, Brown-Forman went public just prior to Prohibition (1920--33), but the Browns maintained control of the majority of shares.
The pre-Prohibition advertising had been valuable: the Brown-Forman company was one of four distillers permitted by the government to sell alcohol for medicinal purposes during Prohibition. The marketing of Old Forester had saved the company from the kind of downfall that other distillers suffered as a result of Prohibition.
Brown-Forman spent the decade between the end of Prohibition and World War II readjusting to the fact that it could now legally sell Old Forester as bourbon. The bourbon now needed to be advertised as an alcoholic beverage rather than as a health tonic, in order to change the image it had acquired during Prohibition. The extensive advertising of the late 1930s and early 1940s, however, was largely futile; the production of alcoholic beverages was once again severely curtailed during World War II. This time Old Forester could not be advertised as a health tonic since even this type of alcohol was now illegal. In spite of this development, the Brown family was not pessimistic about the future of their distillery. They investigated ways in which their alcohol could be used to help the war effort, and during the war Brown-Forman produced alcohol that was used in making both gunpowder and rubber. The Browns also continued to plan for the end of World War II and the future of the Brown-Forman company. They wanted their bourbon to have a head start in the postwar market.
Some well-known brands of the corporation include Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Canadian Mist, Early Times, Old Forester, Korbel champagne, Fetzer wine.
The company was founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown, a young pharmaceuticals salesman in Louisville, who had the then-novel idea of selling top-grade whiskey in sealed glass bottles. Since then, it has grown into a company that in fiscal 2006 had sales of $2.4 billion. The Brown family controls more than 70% of the voting shares.
Brown Forman has two classes of common stock, both of which are traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. The Class A shares carry voting privileges and are thinly traded due to control by the Brown family while the Class B shares are Non-voting stock.
Brown-Forman is a diversified producer of fine quality consumer products. It was founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown in Louisville, KY, U.S. His original brand, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, was America's first bottled bourbon and remains one of Brown-Forman's finest brands today. Geo. Garvin Brown IV, a descendant of the founder, is part of the 5th generation of Brown Family members engaged with the company and serves as the Presiding Chairman of the Board.
Brown-Forman employs 4,120 people worldwide with about 1,000 located in Louisville. Brown-Forman, one of the largest American-owned spirits and wine companies and among the top 10 largest global spirits companies, sells its brands in more than 135 countries and has offices in cities across the globe. In all, Brown-Forman has more than 25 brands in its portfolio of wines and spirits.
We choose to be responsible in everything we do. Not only is it the right thing to do, it is also the source of business opportunity, stronger relationships, innovation, and growth.
Here we report on our social and environmental ambitions, goals, and performance. We define our key issues, explain our management approach, and provide data, examples and links to further sources.
We produce a full length, on-line Corporate Responsibility Report every two years. This website includes information from our 2009-2010 report with updated metrics and case studies. Data from our 2009-2010 report has been archived and is available here. We will publish our next full report in Summer 2011.
This site is supported by our printed publication, On Being Responsible, which primarily describes our most significant corporate responsibility issue: the work we do to promote responsible drinking and reduce the misuse and abuse of beverage alcohol.
An important part of that work is reflected in our Our Thinking About Drinking: The Issues Forum, where our perspective and positions on alcohol topics are shared and your opinion and comments are encouraged.
Objectives
To fuel economic prosperity, growth for the community, and retention of the best and brightest employees. To maintain the reputation of a strong corporate citizen to help recruit and retain quality employees.
Process
Brown-Forman often uses artistic venues and sponsorships to entertain and host customers and clients in the community. They also feature Brown-Forman products at art venues to combine their brand-building efforts with its philanthropic giving.
Brown-Forman sponsors the Louisville Ballet’s annual holiday performance of The Nutcracker. They also added a Community Night performance, where 2,400 children and adults from local social service agencies are able to experience The Nutcracker at no cost.
Through corporate sponsorships of key programs and performances, employees are offered discounted tickets or are invited to attend special performances.
Brown-Forman donated eight floors of their Kentucky office building to the Fund for the Arts to be used for ArtSpace. ArtSpace includes the Brown Theatre, classrooms, a non-profit business incubator, rehearsal hall, and costume shop.
Employee involvement in our environmental stewardship efforts makes a huge positive impact. Green Teams at Sonoma-Cutrer and the Jack Daniel Distillery engage in employee-led activities that address environmental issues. The Green Team at Jack Daniel Distillery implemented programs to recycle materials from both production operations as well as offices to reduce the amount of material going to landfill.
At our global headquarters in Louisville, KY, employees engage in activities such as carpooling or biking to work to reduce vehicular emissions that contribute to air pollution on days known as "Ozone Action Days". These days are determined by local officials when there exists a greater risk for increased concentrations of air pollution, including ground level ozone.
Employees also participate in ridesharing for commuting to work and business travel. Participation in this program allows employees to share rides, reduces the environmental impact from vehicular emissions, reduces the cost of travel, and offers the opportunity for business networking.
For car rentals originating in Louisville, employees are required to rent a hybrid vehicle through a special partnership with our preferred rental agency. This rental program is in addition to the eight company-leased hybrids that are used for daily business travel in our field sales and executive fleets.
George Garvin Brown and John Forman founded the Brown-Forman Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1870. At the outset, Brown-Forman marketed Old Forester bourbon. Before Brown and Forman marketed their own brand, bourbon had been sold to taverns in barrels, and bartenders decanted the alcohol into special bottles with the name of the tavern on the label. Brown poured the bourbon into bottles at the distillery, corked and sealed the bottles, labeled them, and warned taverns not to buy the bourbon if the seals were broken. As an additional innovation, all of the labels were handwritten and included a guarantee on the quality of the bourbon. Old Forester sold well as a result of these innovations--but Forman was dubious: in 1902 he sold his interest in the Brown-Forman Distillery because he believed that Brown-Forman's success would diminish as soon as the novelty of packaging began to fade. The Brown family purchased all of Forman's interest in the company.
In 1905 Brown-Forman continued its packaging innovations by bottling Old Forester in pear-shaped bottles. Old Forester's tavern sales increased significantly as a result. These increased sales led to a certain amount of bitterness among other distillers in Kentucky. Some competitors went so far as to slip iron nails into barrels of Brown-Forman whiskey to make it turn black.
Brown-Forman's bourbon was aged in barrels in large warehouses. At that time, warehouses were not heated, and labels on bourbon bore the expression 'summers old,' a reference to the fact that bourbon can age only in a warm climate. As a result, during the early decades of the 20th century it took many years for the bourbon to be prepared for the market. Consequently, the word 'old' became a common prefix in any brand name of bourbon.
Old Forester, produced, marketed, and distributed by Brown-Forman, continued to be very successful under the private ownership of the Brown family, which had no plans to diversify. All the company's advertising concentrated on marketing Old Forester, which it promoted as a product that would restore health: 'Many, many times a day, eminent physicians say, Old Forester will life prolong and make old age hale and strong.' Although this advertising was effective, Prohibition threatened to close Brown-Forman. To prevent this from happening, Brown-Forman went public just prior to Prohibition (1920--33), but the Browns maintained control of the majority of shares.
The pre-Prohibition advertising had been valuable: the Brown-Forman company was one of four distillers permitted by the government to sell alcohol for medicinal purposes during Prohibition. The marketing of Old Forester had saved the company from the kind of downfall that other distillers suffered as a result of Prohibition.
Brown-Forman spent the decade between the end of Prohibition and World War II readjusting to the fact that it could now legally sell Old Forester as bourbon. The bourbon now needed to be advertised as an alcoholic beverage rather than as a health tonic, in order to change the image it had acquired during Prohibition. The extensive advertising of the late 1930s and early 1940s, however, was largely futile; the production of alcoholic beverages was once again severely curtailed during World War II. This time Old Forester could not be advertised as a health tonic since even this type of alcohol was now illegal. In spite of this development, the Brown family was not pessimistic about the future of their distillery. They investigated ways in which their alcohol could be used to help the war effort, and during the war Brown-Forman produced alcohol that was used in making both gunpowder and rubber. The Browns also continued to plan for the end of World War II and the future of the Brown-Forman company. They wanted their bourbon to have a head start in the postwar market.
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