Integrated Annual Report FY25

In 1975, two French family businesses competing in the Pastis market joined forces to create Pernod Ricard. Led by strong personalities, these once fierce competitors decided to put aside their rivalries to dominate the market. This disruptive move shocked the industry, but showed a visionary boldness that set the stage for the decades that would follow. But the roots go back deeper. Founded in 1805, Pernod Fils was the leading brand of absinthe, an aniseed-flavoured apéritif that became wildly popular and then banned within the space of a century. Pernod would later diversify, launching Pernod 45° in 1938, later renamed Pastis 51, competing directly with Ricard, the brand that had reinvented the category.