The good news for Corby Spirit and Wine

Revenue (to June 30) $271.6 million

Profit (to June 30) $33.4 million

Three-year share price gain 6.1%

P/E ratio (trailing) 13.2

Even pro-free-market politicians in leading economies love to regulate alcohol production and sales: Step right up, Donald Trump and Doug Ford.

Belgian-born Florence Tressarieu has only been president and CEO of Canada’s No. 2 alcohol conglomerate, Corby Spirit and Wine, since January (No. 1 is Britain’s Diageo’s Canadian subsidiary, which isn’t publicly traded here). But she already knows staggering amounts about Canada.

Many business clichés are true, and one is if only we could see ourselves the way outsiders do. Tressarieu, 48, had a long career as an investment banker before joining Corby’s 51% French parent, Pernod Ricard SA, as a top executive in 2019. She knows that alcohol in Canada is regulated by provinces and territories, not Ottawa. “It’s almost as if I have four or five different countries to run, right?” Tressarieu says.

Corby has a long history that stretches back to 1859. The chief exec points to some recent highlights. One is Pernod Ricard’s acquisition of that controlling stake in 2005 as part of a global deal. So why maintain a public float? “It’s providing that discipline, that rigour,” says Tressarieu. And investors here want “exposure to spirits, to beverages, but from a Canadian company.”

Other highlights include three recent acquisitions: Quebec-based Ungava gin in 2016 for $12 million, The Foreign Affair Winery in Niagara in 2017 for $6.2 million and 90% of Toronto’s Ace Beverage Group for $148.5 million in 2023 (and upped its stake to 95% in 2025).

This is where global exposure and being part of an international conglomerate come into play. Tresarrieu says that young people today drink just as much as they did before, but they’re shifting from traditional spirits and wine to what she and other industry pros call RTD—“ready to drink”—an important driver of the Ace acquisition. “The key for us is to be consumer-centric,” she says.

Foreign sales are still just a tiny percentage of Corby’s overall revenue—only $18.2 million in fiscal 2026 (which ended June 30). But Tressarieu believes there is still plenty of room to grow in Canada. However, “it needs to be profitable, sustainable growth,” she says.

And what of the cliché that CEOs just manage the business and don’t pay attention to the share price? Tressarieu laughs. “Of course I look at it and actively promote Corby to investors,” she says. “And I’m quite convinced that good institutions translate into good share prices.”