Our regular feature celebrates memorable scenes, moments, launches and campaigns related to the global aviation and travel retail sphere.
PERU. Today’s selection comes from Lagardère Travel Retail Peru, which has unveiled a colourful new destination goods concept, ‘Fantastico Peru’, across 250sq m of space at Lima Jorge Chavez International Airport.
The retailer hailed the store as “an immersive experience into what the Peruvian culture has best to offer”.
The new concept builds on the strong Sense of Place elements introduced by Lagardère Travel Retail since it took over the duty free business in January 2022. Among these is a space dedicated to chocolate with a ‘treats tree’ inspired by the Peruvian Yuza.
Initiated a few months ago in parallel with the opening of the new duty free operations, Fantastico Peru aims to embody Peruvian history, culture and architecture in a retail concept. The range of products and spaces has been developed to strike a balance between modernity and cultural enhancement, said the retailer. Most of the shop’s fixtures are reused from the store previously in this space to promote circularity.
The selection of products includes beverages, gourmet foods, souvenirs, textiles and cosmetics. Travellers can access a wide assortment of Pisco (including the exclusive Parras Centenarias by Demonio de Tacama), alongside gin, vodka, beers and the recently award-winning Black Whiskey from Don Michael Andean Distillery.
Other features that evoke Peru’s culture include a distillery bar and booths that showcase local artists and products. A new space has also been dedicated to chocolate to give tablets and pralines better exposure and enable customers to compose an assortment of their favourites ‘chocotejas’, a truffled chocolate typical of Peru, in a pick & mix space.
The assortment of local products has come together through a network of local Peruvian producers and craftsmen along with the Lagardère Travel Retail team.
Fantastico Peru also features a space dedicated to healthy foods, with 100% locally-sourced gluten and sugar-free products as well as superfoods. This innovative space “breaks the code of the traditional duty free offering” said Lagardère Travel Retail.
Lagardère Travel Retail Peru CEO Cyril Letocart said: “We are very proud to be unveiling this new concept which brings together the best of what the Peruvian culture, gastronomy and artisans have to offer. It is a new step towards creating different duty free experiences for travellers, focused on local authenticity.
“To materialise this ambition we have worked hand in hand with our partners at Lima Airport Partners who share the same vision and values. And we must all recognise this has been quite an achievement given the sizeable challenges we have faced along the way, from juggling with multiple technical and suppliers’ constraints in a still feverish logistical environment to managing the continued impact of the sanitary crisis.”
Lima Airport Partners Chief Commercial Officer Norbert Onkelbach said: “We are very pleased to celebrate the anniversary of our commercial partnership with Lagardère Travel Retail, with whom we have built a relationship based on trust and collaborative work during the pandemic recovery. Together, we have designed a commercial offer focused on some common values: improving passenger experience, revaluing Peruvian culture, and promoting a sustainable business through employing from the local neighbours of Callao and providing opportunities for local suppliers.”
How the retailer highlighted the big opening on LinkedIn today; see video above
The concept is aligned to Lagardère Travel Retail’s CSR pledge to support local producers and economies and champion the Peru brand. The official inauguration of Fantastico Peru, which took place yesterday, was attended by representatives from the French and German embassies, by delegates from the German and Lima Chambers of Commerce as well as by local journalists. 
