PERNOD RICARD USA CONTINUES SUPPORT OF BARTENDING COMMUNITY WITH $200,000 DONATION TO RESTAURANT WORKERS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Pernod Ricard USA announced a $200,000 donation to Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation (RWCF), an organization whose mission is to help strengthen opportunities in the workforce and increase professional career advancement by addressing quality-of-life issues that disproportionately affect restaurant workers, 40 percent of whom live on poverty-level wages. This is the second year in a row that Pernod Ricard USA has made a holiday donation to support the important work of RWCF.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses throughout the hospitality industry have been forced to close, putting many bartenders, waiters, hosts and kitchen staff out of work. Pernod Ricard USA acknowledges the challenges these critical members of our community continue to face and the responsibility of the wine & spirits industry to support them.

"At Pernod Ricard, we exist to unlock the magic of human connection, and because of that we see responsibility as going far beyond responsible consumption. It includes a responsibility to support the professionals who introduce our brands to consumers and create the convivial atmospheres in which our brands can be enjoyed," said John Barrett, Chief Commercial Officer of Pernod Ricard USA. "Our decision to make a second donation to the Restaurant Worker's Community Fund this year recognizes the systematic challenges workers throughout the hospitality industry continue to face due to the pandemic. We know that the industry as a whole is only as resilient as the professionals who make each and every establishment thrive."

"As people within our community struggle with long-term loss of income due to forced closures, suspended businesses and reduced hours, this generous donation from Pernod Ricard USA will work to provide structural solutions to the ongoing quality of life-crisis facing the hospitality industry during the pandemic," said John deBary, Co-Founder and Board President of the Restaurant Worker's Community Foundation. "This donation will be dispersed among our various funds across the hospitality industry including Core Mission Work, COVID-Relief Grantmaking and Racial Justice Fund Grantmaking."

Pernod Ricard USA encourages consumers to remember their local bartenders and restaurants this holiday season and consider making their own contributions to the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation.

About Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard USA is the premium spirits and wine company in the U.S., and the largest subsidiary of Paris, France-based Pernod Ricard SA., the world's second-largest spirits and wine company. Pernod Ricard employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, is listed on Euronext (Ticker: RI) and is part of the CAC 40 index. The company's leading spirits include such prestigious brands as Absolut® Vodka, Avión® Tequila, Chivas Regal® Scotch Whisky, The Glenlivet® Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Jameson® Irish Whiskey, Kahlúa® Liqueur, Malibu®, Martell® Cognac, Olmeca Altos® Tequila , Beefeater® Gin, Del Maguey® Single Village Mezcal, Monkey 47® Gin, Plymouth® Gin, Seagram's® Extra Dry Gin, Malfy® Gin, Hiram Walker® Liqueurs, Midleton® Irish Whiskey, Powers® Irish Whiskey, Redbreast® Irish Whiskey, Aberlour® Single Malt Scotch Whisky; Lillet®; Smithworks® Vodka, Jefferson's® Bourbon, Smooth Ambler® Whiskey, Rabbit Hole® Whiskey, Pernod® and Ricard®; such superior wines as Jacob's Creek®, Kenwood® Vineyards, Campo Viejo® and Brancott Estate®; and such exquisite champagnes and sparkling wines as Perrier-Jouët® Champagne, G.H. Mumm™ Champagne and Mumm Napa® sparkling wines.

Pernod Ricard USA is headquartered in New York, New York, and has more than 1,000 employees across the country. As "creators of conviviality," we are committed to sustainable and responsible business practices in service of our customers, consumers, employees and the planet. Pernod Ricard USA urges all adults to consume its products responsibly and has an active program to promote responsible drinking. For more information on this, please visit: www.responsibility.org.

About Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation – www.RestaurantWorkersCF.org 

@RWCFUSA on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn

Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation is an advocacy and action nonprofit created by and for restaurant workers. RWCF was founded in 2018 to advocate for – and raise funds for other nonprofits working toward – gender equity, racial justice, fair wages, and healthy work environments in the restaurant industry. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, RWCF's additional focus is on supporting workers in crisis and small business owners with the Restaurant Workers COVID19 Crisis Relief Fund.

RWCF is America's first nonprofit using the community foundation model to support people in a particular labor segment. We are a community dedicated to making the restaurant industry more hospitable to everyone. In our normal model (prior to the establishment of the crisis relief fund) one third of the funds we raise goes to our own community-building and advocacy efforts, one third to grantmaking to other nonprofits (ones that provide career training, advocate for fair wage policies and worker rights, or provide services for restaurant workers related to gender and racial equity, and mental health and substance abuse) and one third is allocated to an impact investing fund, with which we aim to positively affect worker rights in the industry.

SOURCE Pernod Ricard USA