On location in Angers: How Cointreau is blending history and modernity

FRANCE. It’s a story of ancient and modern. Cointreau, that most traditional of liqueurs, traces its history back to 1849, but in travel retail an ambitious new strategy means the focus is firmly on the future.

The addition of two new expressions, one launched exclusively in travel retail, has revitalised the brand’s presence in the channel and plans are in place to leverage that momentum.

The fascinating convergence of past and present was a key theme of a travel retail media tour last month, when journalists were invited to visit Cointreau’s distillery in Angers.

According to CEO Panos Sarantopoulos, Cointreau has over time become the “definitive orange spirit and a leader of its category”. Family owned for much of its history, Cointreau merged with Rémy Martin in 1990 to form Rémy Cointreau, one of the giants of the drinks business.

But the family heritage still burns brightly, personified by sixth-generation family member and Brand Heritage Manager Alfred Cointreau, who served as an expert tour guide. He demonstrated the distillation process ebulliently and recapped the company’s compelling history, ranging from its early role in advertising films to becoming the cornerstone of classic cocktails such as the Margarita.

There’s history everywhere. Talk to the employees at Cointreau and you quickly appreciate the brand’s historical and social connection with the Angers region and its people.

“We, including management, are all here to pass the baton – there is over a century of history behind us, and probably centuries ahead,” says Sarantopoulos. “Our role is to be true to the DNA, the tradition and the authenticity of this extraordinary house, and to transmit it forward.”

Premium positioning

The brand is a mainstay of spirits retailing around the world. Cointreau is distributed in 180 countries and is present in duty free in most. It will be served some 500 million times worldwide this year, the company reckons. The liqueur benefits from the fact that it can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, whether neat, in cocktails or as a condiment for food.

Today, Cointreau’s leading markets are the USA, France, the UK, Belgium, Australia and Japan. Global travel retail, taken as a single entity, would be in the company’s top two or three markets around the world.

“The way the industry looks at our business is in the traditional high street liqueurs segment – in which Cointreau is number one,” says Sarantopoulos. “The segment has over €100 million in retail sales value in duty free. Cointreau’s market share is in excess of 20%.

“If you look at the top 25 premium brands in terms of retail sales value in duty free, Cointreau is on the list. Duty free operators will want these top 25 brands.

“Our partners in retail will look at the size of Cointreau compared to other categories. If Cointreau was a premium gin, it would be in the top two in terms of retail value for duty free. If it were a malt whisky it would be in the top six. And it would be in the top two in premium vodkas.”

Although Cointreau appeals to a broad consumer base, women are a key market segment. “Very often it is women who are urban, connected, and go out regularly, aged between 25 and 45,” says Sarantopoulos.

He also notes that couples will buy the liqueur to drink together, which offers significant opportunities in duty free. “If I put myself in the shoes of the retailer, Cointreau is not only a leader in its segment but it also attracts women and couples, who are relatively rare in liqueurs and spirits boutique shops,” he claims.

“When we speak to the shoppers who come through duty free shops, they often speak about cocktails and increasingly Cointreau Fizz. Social networks are important in promoting this.”

A key element of the brand’s digital strategy is the Cointreau Creative Crew, an initiative which Sarantopoulos says allows women to “achieve their dreams”. Led by actress and model Laetitia Casta in her role as Creative Director, it is described as a “worldwide philanthropist programme”.

“She invites other personalities to join the group; we help their cause and they go on to have a creative project,” explains Sarantopoulos. “Various videos have had millions of hits on the internet.”

The initiative was inspired by brand founder Edouard Cointreau’s wife Louisa, a women’s rights pioneer and important figure in the history of the house.

From one to three

Cointreau has been a single proposition for much of its history, but two new expressions have been launched in recent times – with travel retail in the front line.

Cointreau Blood Orange, which uses blood oranges from the Mediterranean island of Corsic, launched as a travel retail exclusive in 2015. The expression, created by Master Distiller Bernadette Langlais, is intended to remain true to the company’s heritage and processes, but also appeal to a new generation of consumer.

Prior to this launch, Cointreau Noir was unveiled in 2013. It blends the orange liqueur with Cognac to add depth and is designed to appeal to dark spirits connoisseurs.

Global taste: Some 500 million servings of Cointreau will be sampled worldwide this year

“This is a major evolution in the way we look at our business. With Bernadette’s inspiration, we have moved to an original collection,” notes Sarantopoulos.

“Noir is the expression of intensity, with spiciness and a textured profile. Blood Orange is all about vibrancy – which you see with your eyes even before tasting. It is the fullest expression of orange as a fruit.

“Clearly this amounts to something of a small revolution, both for our house and the segment in duty free retail. These are not new flavours but new expressions of the Cointreau style – there’s an ocean of difference.”

To optimise its success in travel retail, Blood Orange needs to be properly differentiated at the point of sale, Sarantopoulos says, offering three hints to retailers. “The first is visibility. Some of this is in the packaging; the blood orange colour, for example, is very attractive and operates as a magnet. Once somebody touches the bottle, half of the sale is made.

“A second factor is that Noir comes with a gift box, so this automatically says it is a gift. Thirdly, it is about ‘tasting, tasting, tasting’ – the opportunity to discover at the point of sale how they are different.”

(Left) Alfred Cointreau is an impassioned global ambassador for the brand that bears his name; Global Travel Retail EMEA Director François Van Aal and Cointreau CEO Panos Sarantopoulos (far right) have helped implement an ambitious growth strategy

Rémy Cointreau Global Travel Retail EMEA Director François Van Aal says the introduction of Blood Orange led to a strong travel retail performance in 2015.

Importantly, the line extensions have not cannibalised sales of the original Cointreau. Instead, says Van Aal, retail sales value (based on results from 150 outlets) quadrupled by having a three-fold range.

“One plus two equals four” is the simple formula, Van Aal states. In fact, Cointreau’s market share in global travel retail is twice as big as its share in the domestic market, he notes. “This shows the strength of the brand in the market – it’s a ‘can’t do without’.”

“We have one recipe but with that we can play and innovate,” says Alfred Cointreau. “Travel retail is a window to the world and that is why it is so important to us. With the new expressions we are showing a modern vision, and must achieve a balance between history and modernity.” Past, present and future encapsulated, a neat way of summing up the company’s strategy.

Despite the success of the line extensions, no more are planned. “Three expressions makes sense,” says Van Aal. “We don’t want to fall into the business model of burning too brightly, too quickly. Coming up with ten expressions at once would appear very artificial.”

Sarantopoulos has high hopes for the future. “Our ambition is to continue to create the event at the point of sale for our partners and to drive footfall, especially from couples and women who are so rare in the world of spirits retail. And also to propose a full range that appeals to all different motivations for purchase.”

“What we’ve seen over the last five to ten years is one-digit growth,” adds Van Aal. “But now we are trying to break the rules with more out-of-the-box thinking and with new expressions, giving us more shelf space.

“Our ambition is stronger growth, not business as usual. We want high single-digit growth and to recruit new customers. We have a lot of ambition and that now needs to be proven at the operational level.”