Nicaraguan rum brand Flor de Caña has been family owned since 1890. Quick as it is to underline those ties, the brand is just as fast in highlighting its strong sustainability credentials.
According to Flor de Caña, its focus on sustainability has shaped how the company produces rum, how it does business, and its interaction with consumers around the world.
As a single estate rum, Flor de Caña owns and controls every step of the production process, from field to bottle. While this presents a complex series of challenges, it is, according to the brand, a great opportunity to ensure sustainable practices during every step of the process.
Flor de Caña Global Travel Retail Manager Rodrigo Bazan discusses the brand’s past, its strong sustainability and ESG practices, new products, and its strategy in travel retail with The Moodie Davitt Report’s Colleen Morgan.
How do you marry tradition and modernity at Flor de Caña? How is today’s ownership and management telling the story of heritage while remaining relevant to new audiences?
The good part of being family owned for 130 years is that we have a lot to talk about. Tradition and a dedication to our brand values allows us to bring a clear and consistent storyline together of the past and the future of our brand.
Our five-generation family story is truly authentic and resonates with consumers globally, highlighting the brand’s resilience and commitment to quality and expert craftsmanship, following a century old tradition.
At the same time, modernity allows us to continue improving our production process to be more efficient, more eco-friendly and ensure the world-class of our products. What hasn’t changed over 130 years are the values that have guided our brand: family unity, excellence, innovation and sustainability.
The story of Flor de Caña began in 1890, when Alfredo Francisco Pellas Canessa, a young explorer from Italy, risked everything to travel to Nicaragua. There he found the perfect place for a distillery, at the foot of the San Cristóbal, the country’s tallest and most active volcano.
Since then, Flor de Caña rums have been naturally aged in bourbon barrels, without sugar or artificial ingredients, all enriched by the volcanic soil, water and climate.
Flor de Caña is the world’s first Carbon Neutral and Fair Trade certified spirit, it uses 100% renewable energy to power its distillery and has planted over 950,000 trees since 2005. Since 1913, the brand has offered its employees and their families free education and health services at the company-owned school and the company-owned hospital.
Tell us about the strategy today and how you plan to widen appeal to new geographies and new consumers.
Our strategy has always been to provide a quality product for our consumers to enjoy, while ensuring the well-being of workers, environment and community in every step.
Everything starts from the sugarcane we grow all the way up to our unique aging process. The liquid is a representation of our work ethic and word of mouth has been our number one reason for growth.
People trust our natural aging process, which takes place in bourbon barrels without artificial ingredients, resulting in a rich and luscious liquid that’s also sugar and gluten free.
Consumers today are looking to drink less, but of higher quality. Our premiuimisation strategy lends us a great tool to attract new consumers who are looking for great quality with great value. Some of these products include Flor de Caña Eco Rum, Flor de Caña 130th Anniversary Rum and Flor de Caña V Generaciones 30 Year Rum (see notes at the foot of the page).
Tell us about the product line-up, which ranges from that ultra-luxury collection, with the limited edition 30 Year Old rum, to premium and speciality collections.
The success of Flor de Caña lies in its range of premium expressions. We’ve been able to meet the needs of our consumers from price point to taste profile.
For example, our Flor de Caña 12 Year Old is loved in the Caribbean for its mouthfeel and taste profile similar to rums of the Caribbean. In regions like France, which enjoy higher ABV, we have two expressions where we took the ABV up to 45% and the consumers have been incredibly receptive. Last, but not least, we also have liqueurs including Spresso (Coffee) and Coco (Coconut) to help give consumers a premium version of these spirits.
How do you see the premiumisation trend for rum and what new products are under development?
We think it’s safe to say the premiumisation of the rum category is here to stay. The whole world is falling in love with aged rum because of its approachable taste profile but layered with aging practices of bourbons and Scotch.
These two together have led to the growth of rum across the world. We’ve been believers of this since day one, so we think we are well positioned to be the leader in this category.
As mentioned earlier, we have released two products in response to this growing category and we have a few in the pipeline we cannot share yet. However, you can expect Flor de Caña to bring something never before seen in the market, and we are working with the best partners around the world to do so.
How important is travel retail in the brand’s strategy? And what role do travel retail-exclusive expressions play?
Travel retail has been a priority for us for many years. Our ultra-premium collection has been a staple on shelves as this is where we focused before the boom of premiumisation in this category.
The travel retail philosophy is perfectly aligned with our core pillars as we want to bring quality and unique products to consumers all over the world. Our ultra-premium collection aligns with the traveling consumer and so does our occasion.
Exclusivity is the key with travel retailers. We are always trying to work with our partners to bring something unique and different to their stores, whether it be an expression or even a consumer activation, such as Straight from the Cask, where consumers live the experience of serving a Flor de Caña rum directly from a white oak, ex-bourbon cask where it was aged.
Last year Flor de Caña entered a partnership with WEBB Banks to have its rums featured in the Caribbean, and in selected travel retail markets in the Americas. How is that collaboration developing and what other regional markets is the brand targeting?
The partnership with WEBB Banks has been a great success for Flor de Caña. Thanks to their vast expertise, knowledge of the local market and distribution capacity, we’re excited to be bringing Flor de Caña to new consumers. As the Caribbean is riddled with local rums and local purveyors, we have to make sure we can tell our story to consumers and showcase what makes us different: our liquid.
Our footprint is growing rapidly on a global scale, and we are strategically focusing on markets like APAC and Europe to continue growing and showcasing our world-class rums to new customers.
How do you see the potential for premium rums in travel retail? And what more do you want to see from retailers to ensure a mutually prosperous future?
Travel retail is positioned to be the best medium for premium rum around the world. Our retail partners are very experienced in processes like category management, sell through, and brand building. With premiumisation on the rise, the stories told at these stores can have major impacts for the brand.
We see a lot of potential in working with travel retail partners to continue growing our brand globally in the coming years.
Flor de Caña Eco is an eco-friendly and sustainably crafted ultra-premium rum (Carbon Neutral and Fair Trade certified) packaged in sustainable materials.
Its case is made from materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the bottle from recycled glass, with a bagasse fibre label. A full-bodied rum with a long and smooth finish. Recommended serve: On the rocks or in cocktails with natural and/or sustainably made ingredients.
Flor de Caña 130th Anniversary is a special 90 proof luxury rum crafted by Flor de Caña Maestro Ronero Tomas Cano, in commemoration of the brand’s 130th anniversary. Full-bodied with notes of dark chocolate, caramel and toasted nuts, with a long and luscious finish. Best enjoyed neat or on a rock with an orange peel.
Flor de Caña V Generaciones 30 Year is an ultra-luxury rum aged in a single barrel since 1988. Only a handful of barrels of this liquid have been released and the numbered bottles feature hand-crafted, volcanic rock bottle caps and a metallic label.
Presentation packs include a replica of a 1902 volcano postal stamp and the signatures of the five generations of the family. 
