07/11/2005- Distilled Spirits Council Selects Secant, Inc. to Deliver Domestic Market Distilled Spirits Trends

WASHINGTON, DC – July 11, 2005 -- The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) announced today that Secant, Inc., of Bridgeport, Connecticut has been awarded a contract to provide brand sales data processing services to DISCUS and its member companies.

“Secant was selected for the cutting edge technology they employ, their ability to simplify process flows and their flexibility and success in data integration,” said David Ozgo, DISCUS’ Vice President for Economic & Strategic Analysis.

Secant, a strategic data processing firm with years of experience in consumer packaged goods and beverage alcohol, has been hired to process and distribute historical member company spirits brand sales data.

“We were impressed by Secant’s focus on quality and customer service, as well as their use of data checks and information management dashboards,” said Gina Thornton, Director of Business Operations for Brown-Forman and long-time DISCUS Industry Statistics Committee member.
In developing DISCUS’ data collection system, Elena Amboyan and Anne Carlson, Secant’s managing partners, worked closely with DISCUS members and conducted interviews to review their historic data research needs.

“Accurate information is vital to all companies today, the beverage alcohol industry is no exception,” said Elena Amboyan, Secant’s Managing Partner. “We welcome our new relationship with DISCUS and believe our integrated approach will differentiate Secant’s data collection services.”

Distilled Spirits Council is the trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the United States. Website: http://www.distilledspirits.org