Camus today announced the start of a strategic collaboration with Shede Spirits, a leader in China’s premium Baijiu segment.
The collaboration was honoured with the introduction of a duty free-exclusive product, Shede Founder’s Tribute. The new expression was launched at a celebratory event on 22 April at Club 55, described as the ‘it’ venue in Shanghai.
Sixty guests were welcomed onto a red carpet entrance before witnessing the unveiling of Shede Founder’s Tribute, a unique Strong Aroma Baijiu co-developed by Camus and Shede – described as two brands of different geographic origin but with a shared passion for quality and craftsmanship.
Shede Founder’s Tribute is expected to be on-shelf in the latter half of 2021.
Camus President Cyril Camus and Shede Spirits CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board Pu Jizhou co-hosted the elegant affair. Special guests included consuls and other representatives from the Egypt and France consulates, representatives from international companies, Chinese government leaders from the spirits and free trade zone sectors, and celebrities from the world of arts & academia. Both hosts made speeches before the product reveal to signal the historic moment.
Camus is also helping Shede to develop its reach in international domestic duty paid markets, with the French local market and EU ecommerce leading the way. Recently, Taste Shede, the brand’s flagship product in duty paid markets, was launched on Amazon within the EU.
“This collaboration has shown Camus’ determination to further build baijiu’s impact in the international market, duty free and duty paid. We look forward to embarking on this brand new journey together with Shede Spirits,” said Camus President Cyril Camus.
A duet of two craftsmen – launch event held in Shanghai
“The collaboration between China’s leading Strong Aroma Brand Shede and a world-class Cognac brand, Camus, is the duet of two craftsmen, a recognition for the quality of Shede, and a brand new start for the internationalisation of Shede Spirits,” said Pu Jizhou.
“It is my absolute pleasure and privilege to cooperate today with Shede and embark on the globalisation of the appreciation of Strong Aroma Baijiu,” added Cyril Camus in a speech to congratulate both teams on their dedicated efforts in making the product a reality.
| Factfile: Shede Founder’s Tribute • Duty free exclusive, limited edition |
Camus said that it had reviewed a wide array of Chinese Baijiu brands and eventually identified Shede as the first Chinese Strong Aroma Baijiu brand it wished to work strategically with.
The culmination of the event was the reveal of the product. Shede Founder’s Tribute is made adhering to the highest quality standard of ‘vintage spirits’, fermented in the ancient way in Shede’s oldest pits from the Ming dynasty, then kick-started with Qu (a fermentation starter) following the #1000-Year Classical Tai He’ method.
The base spirit is aged for a minimum of six years and blended with 15 years-old vintage baijiu from the Tai’An workshop. “The traditional craftsmanship is blended with artistry and inspiration, sparking youthful charm in a vintage spirit, one destined to bring new experience beyond our imagination,” said Camus of the new launch.
The celebratory evening marks the start of the internationalisation journey of China Strong Aroma Baijiu, led by Shede, Camus said. The company vowed to “spread the aroma of baijiu around the world” through the promotion and integration of Chinese and Western culture.
Kindred spirits
Cyril Camus visit to Shede’s ecological park in 2018 confirmed his intuition that the brand had the potential to be an international hit.
Shede has unique brand genes that appeals to a wide range of demographic groups beyond the Chinese, he believes. Shede’s association with widely known Eastern philosophies (Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism); a minimalistic design that encompasses classic Chinese flair (embracing a calligraphy brand logo and the Yin & Yang colour scheme); and lastly, a shared understanding of the ‘sacrifice to gain’ (the literal translation of the brand name “Shede”) concept with consumers.
The final point has been reinforced by Shede’s decision to collaborate with great artists, writers and sportsmen, all of whom endured sacrifice to be successful.
Founder’s Tribute, the international debut of Shede, pays tribute to the long tradition of the Tai’An Workshop, harmoniously blending its Chinese heritage with a modernist Yin Yang design.
Duty free-exclusive Founder’s Tribute “upholds the spirit of craftsmanship and the motto of sacrifice, destined to be appreciated by the connoisseur searching for the finer things in life,” Camus said.
The Camus-led Spirit of China range, a duty free and travel retail-exclusive concept, only collaborates with premium Chinese Baijiu brands with a storied past, inherited craftsmanship and irreplicable brewing resources, Camus said.
Spirit of China is designed to be consumers’ first choice when buying baijiu and the travel retail reference in the category. It allows travellers to experience Chinese culture through a curated collection of China’s finest Baijiu, Camus said.
Spirit of China can be translated as both ‘Chinese spirit’ and ‘national liquor” in Chinese. The meaning of this play on words is signified in the Chinese character 国(guo) within the brand’s logo.
The symbolic and auspicious logo is outlined in a red, minimalist, cloud pattern to add a traditional and festive connotation.
By focusing on the product packaging design, consumers can learn from traditional Chinese culture and are able to reinterpret Chinese elements through modern, light, luxurious styles. The merchandising with its dual theme colours of red and gold stands out on the shop floor and exudes warm wishes to consumers related to their prosperity.
| Camus and the continuous quest to uncover the ‘Spirit of China’ Cyril Camus was living in China in the mid-1990s when he first became acquainted with and fascinated by baijiu. Convinced of the category’s potential in the international duty free channel, he brought the leading baijiu brand Kweichow Moutai into the space and launched a collection of exclusive products that are now available to international travellers in 400+ stores in 50 countries
Camus created a specialty concept under the overarching brand ‘Spirit of China’ to further spread the aroma of baijiu around the world.
Shede, a leader in Strong Aroma Baijiu (Kweichow Moutai is Sauce Aroma Baijiu) became the first brand selected by Camus to be launched under the Spirit of China. Camus said that it chose Shede for its strength in vintage reserves, ecological focus and its brand positioning as a symbol for Chinese culture. |
After more than a decade of successful collaboration with Kweichow Moutai, which made Baijiu a must-have category for the travel retail channel, Camus realised consumers’ continuous interest in the category and in seeking out new baijiu brands with different flavour profiles and price points compared to the ultra-premium Moutai.
ABOUT SHEDE
As one of the top five baijiu brands in the premium category (RSP range US$50-120), Shede Spirits has an estimated brand value of RMB108 billion (US$16.7 billion). Its production adheres to the motto ‘Sacrifice to Gain’, based on a mission to deliver every bottle aged to perfection.
The company boasts the world’s largest inventory of aged premium baijiu, fulfilling its commitment of ‘Every bottle aged to perfection’. Shede is also fully committed to Corporate Social Responsibility, producing its baijiu in a meticulously maintained ecology park. One of the oldest liquor-making workshops in China, Tai’An workshop, credited as a culinary heritage of China, is situated within the park.
ABOUT CAMUS
Founded in 1863, Camus is the largest family-run, independent Cognac house, owned and operated by the Camus family for five generations.
Under the leadership of Cyril Camus, the House of Camus now employs people across eight countries and three continents and has subsidiaries in China and the US, as well as sales representation offices in Russia, China and China’s Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.
Camus Wines & Spirits is an international independent distributor of a wide variety of premium third-party wines & spirits brands such as Loudenne wines and Lambay Irish Whiskey. For over a decade, Camus has brought China’s most famous baijiu – Kweichow Moutai – international recognition in travel retail and taken it to prime position among the world’s most prestigious spirits.
In 2017, Camus was awarded the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label which acknowledges French companies for their craftsmanship and excellence.
