Fortune Brands to increase marketing spend by 10 percent this year

"We don’t see 2010 as a frothy year across the board," Craig Omtvedt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Fortune was reported as saying.

As a result, it could be more difficult for spirits makers to raise prices as they normally do.

"I do think near-term the pricing power of the spirits industry will not be as strong as it may normally be," Mr Omtvedt said. He noted that Fortune performed "moderately better than the overall market" in terms of pricing and sales mix in 2009.

That’s because Fortune brands relies more on "brown spirits" such as bourbon, than on "white spirits" like vodka, which are often mixed in cocktails and therefore more subject to pricing pressure.

In the U.S., a USD 10 billion (EUR 7.5 billion) spirits market, sales of ultra and super premium brands have suffered most in this recession.

Fortune, the consumer products company which sells bathroom appliances, golf balls and spirits, is the world’s number four drinks group behind Diageo, Pernod Ricard and privately owned Bacardi. It has less exposure to emerging markets than its rivals, but is now focused on growing its scotch whisky business in Brazil and India.

The U.S. distiller sells 80 percent of its volume in the U.S., Europe and Australia, with only 5 percent in emerging markets, where many analysts expect the recovery may come first.

In 2009, three-quarters of Fortune’s earnings came from its spirits side.