A combination of positive factors is giving Mediterranean liqueur and aperitif brand owners a boost now that most pandemic restrictions have been lifted in Europe. Joe Bates reports.
Ouzo welcomes the return of duty-free and tourism
The ouzo segment rebounded strongly last year, growing sales by 6% to over 3m cases, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, as the on-premise and tourist trades reopened in Greece and neighbouring countries. Ouzo of Plomari is one of the leading brands, with a presence in around 47 markets worldwide and Konstantinos Trivyzas, Plomari’s head of duty-free business, tells Global Drinks Intel he is confident of further recovery this year.
“Key domestic markets such as Bulgaria, Israel and Germany are recovering and even increasing; duty-free markets in Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey, Egypt and Finland are also showing a good increase,” he reveals, noting that Plomari is the top-selling ouzo brand in Greece’s Travel Retail outlets, which are operated by Dufry.
According to Trivyzas, Travel Retail sales have been strong in Greece despite the lack of Chinese and Russian tourists, due to the former country’s zero-COVID policy and the latter’s invasion of Ukraine. “The channel has been recovering from the beginning of the year, showing in Q1 only -25% versus 2019. April and June have been almost the same as in 2019 and on some Greek islands, there have been even higher increases. The Chinese were never good buyers of ouzo, and Russian tourists are very few in terms of the total numbers.”
New launches from Plomari this year include the Plomari Limited Edition 2022 release, which this year celebrates kaikia, the traditional wooden boats of Greece, and the country’s rich nautical identity. The company has also released an unaged brandy called O/Purist, described as a “balanced grape marc distillate” created by ten leading Greek bartenders, which can be enjoyed neat or mixed in cocktails.
Innovation rejuvenates amaretto
The amaretto segment is showing strong signs of life, with volume sales rising 11% to over 2m cases last year, while value was up 23%. The category is blessed with a hugely popular on-premise serve, the Amaretto Sour, and a strong market leader in Disaronno, which has tried to keep itself fresh in recent years, creating limited-edition bottles with classic Italian fashion brands such as Diesel, Versace and Moschino, while also launching a cream version, Disaronno Velvet, in 2020.
One rival amaretto brand trying to shake up the segment is Adriatico, a small-batch Puglia-based amaretto launched in 2019 and now available in 28 countries. “Adriatico is one of the rare, if not unique, amarettos produced with roasted and salted almonds which comes from a distillate,” says co-founder Jean-Robert Bellanger. “We also add cinnamon, cocoa and coffee notes.
“We lowered the sweetness extremely, as amaretto used to be perceived as a very sweet liqueur,” adds Bellanger. “We also created a new product; the Bianco Crushed Almonds Amaretto. It’s a vegan liqueur made with crushed white almonds, like a boozy almond milk with a low 16% ABV alcohol. It’s perfect for cocktails, mixed with lemon, for instance, or neat on ice. The feedback from different European markets is fantastic, often compared to the cream liqueur leader, but less sweet and 100% vegan, bringing this silky marzipan flavour to new levels.”
Last year, the company unveiled its first limited-edition expression, Adriatico Roasted Almonds, which is aged for eight months in ex-Heaven Hill Bourbon casks. Bellanger says 900 bottles were produced, all of which sold out. The brand’s next limited edition will be an amaretto aged in Caroni rum casks and finished in a grappa cask.
The revival of a 1920s liqueur
While Adriatico has been looking to the future in amaretto, Veneto-based distillery Rossi d’Asiago has relaunched Kranebet, a botanic juniper-based liqueur first produced in 1924. Earlier this year, Kranebet, whose name derives from the Cimbrian word ‘kraneveta’, meaning ‘bitter grains’, won a gold medal at the San Francisco Spirits Competition.
“Since 2018, we have been working on relaunching this historical product with a more contemporary perspective, and in recent times we have launched it in the international markets,” explains Rossi d’Asiago CEO Nicola Dal Toso. “Winning the gold medal in one of the most respected and influential spirits competitions is a sign that we are working in the right direction. We believe the recent trends for Mediterranean liqueurs to be the perfect playground for Kranebet.”
A key serve for the brand is the ‘KranebeTonic’, a riff on the traditional gin & tonic using Kranebet rather than gin. Dal Toso says: “We are focusing on the aperitivo moment with the KranebeTonic, especially by educating bartenders and by communicating to consumers the best way to enjoy Kranebet: in a KranebeTonic, a refreshing cocktail characterised by a refreshing, slightly sweet taste with botanical notes.”
Vermouth rebounds and heads down the premiumisation path
Vermouth enjoyed a strong bounce-back effect in 2021, recording a 5% volume uplift to around 18m cases, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. Thanks to the growth of cocktail culture and the spread of the aperitif consumption occasion outside of the Mediterranean region, a premiumisation trend is proving beneficial, according to Andy Holmes, founder of Cucielo Vermouth di Torino, which was launched in 2018 and is now in 28 markets.
“I think it’s a very exciting time for premium Vermouth, with a number of established brands and new brands, like ourselves, really making a noise to grow the premium-plus category,” he explains. “Over the last 15 years, the value/standard end of the segment has lost more than 15m cases, while the premium-plus sub-segment is multiplying. As we’ve seen in so many categories, if 30% or more of your drink consists of Vermouth, you need to treat yourself to using a great Vermouth – it makes a huge difference.”
Launched in 2014, Spanish Vermouth El Bandarra is also growing fast; the brand is now available in 14 countries, with new markets added this year, including Switzerland, Israel and Costa Rica. El Bandarra’s range has expanded from the original El Bandarra Rojo, a 15% ABV Vermouth based on a 1962 Spanish recipe, to include three other expressions: Al Fresco, a lower-sugar and alcohol (14.5% ABV) product for the UK; Blanco, a sweet white Vermouth, and Rosé, a pale pink Vermouth made with grenache grapes and containing 35% less sugar.
“In 2022, we introduced the Bandarra spritz (one part El Bandarra Al Fresco, one part Cava, a splash of soda and a grapefruit slice) as our lead serve for El Bandarra,” reveals co-founder Alex Virgili. “We recognised the importance of cocktail culture in the UK, with more consumers mixing drinks at home and exploring new categories. We find the spritz serve makes the aperitivo category more approachable to a wider audience.”
Also upbeat is Dilmoor-Perlino, an Italian subsidiary of La Martiniquaise Group and owner of Perlino Vermouth. The brand enjoyed a 5% rise in domestic sales over the first five months of 2022, according to Elena Branda, spokesperson for the company’s export & marketing department. “We also see a good and fairly steady trend in Poland, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden,” she adds.
Perlino recently introduced the more premium Vermouth di Torino Rosso Corsieri del Palio expression, which won a silver medal at the ‘World Best Vermouth Awards 2022’. The iteration takes its name from the city’s famous ‘Il Palio’ horse race. A white version has also been added to the range.
Founded in 1891, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino is no stranger to winning awards either. The namesake brand was crowned ‘Top-Trending Vermouth’ and ‘Bestselling Vermouth’ in the ‘World’s 100 Best Bars 2020’ competition. The company is now introducing its first major line extension in over a decade into key markets.
Cocchi Vermouth di Torino Extra Dry is a 17%-ABV expression that uses a Piedmontese recipe – made from ingredients that originate from, or have strong links to, the region. The base wine is made of local Cortese grapes, the same used for Gavi DOCG, and botanicals include wormwood, angelica, coriander, cardamom, lemon peel and Menta di Pancalieri, a Piedmontese mint.
Cocchi MD Roberto Bava heralds the new Vermouth as a “gamechanger”, that gives the specialist Dry Martini drinker one more option in “the ongoing debate” about the best way to make the classic cocktail.
Bava, who also holds the position of president at the Vermouth di Torino Institute, acknowledges the aperitif concept is booming worldwide, but insists it’s an idea that needs to be defended from being diluted. “In a way, we want to keep the identity of aperitivo,” he says. “In the next few years, we need to be clear about what it is and isn’t. Aperitivo is not dining; it’s not getting drunk. It’s linking food and drinks; it’s ten minutes for yourself and sharing with friends. That is our job at the Institute.”
Classic cocktails buoy bitters
Campari, the star ingredient of the hugely popular Negroni cocktail, enjoyed a strong 2021, with global sales up over 30% in 2021, thanks to the cocktails-at-home trend and the reopening of the on-premise. The namesake brand owner attributed this strong performance, which was up 23.4% on pre-COVID 2019, to the strength of what it terms “proprietary cocktails”, such as the Negroni, the Boulevardier and the Americano (in which Campari is a key ingredient), as well as the increasing popularity of the lighter Campari Spritz. Last year, sales in the brand’s home market of Italy were up almost 24% on 2019 levels; other key markets, such as the US, the UK, Nigeria, Jamaica, Brazil and Argentina, also fared well.
Calabrian-based firm Caffo, the producer of Vecchio Amaro del Capo, also enjoyed a year of strong recovery in 2021, growing double digits over 2020. The company hopes to add two new export markets by the end of 2022 and reveals that Italian Travel Retail sales have picked up. “The numbers of business passengers and tourists have increased significantly, allowing us to recover sales in duty-free shops,” says a spokesperson. “At the moment, the channel represents a small percentage of our total volumes, but [it’s] very important for the image of our products.”
In July, Caffo unveiled a new Italian marketing campaign for Vecchio Amaro del Capo. “The main goal of this ad is to highlight the strict link between our product and the land of Calabria,” explains the spokesperson. “Most of the ingredients, such as oranges, liquorice, wild fennel and bergamot, used in Vecchio Amaro del Capo, are from Calabria.”
To read Part I of Global Drinks Intel’s review of the liqueurs segment, click here.
This article was initially published in July/August’s issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For details on how to subscribe, click here.
