INTERNATIONAL. Welcome to The Moodie Davitt e-Zine’s final edition for 2017. And what a bumper issue it is to ring out the old year and ring in the new.
In these pages you’ll find our editors’ and reporters’ selections of their favourite stories of 2017; commentary on the key themes that have defined the past 12 months; and our choice of the best store openings, campaigns and more. We champion our ‘Front Line’ heroes and heroines of the year and we reveal 2017’s stand-out videos, images and blogs.
In maintaining a 15-year tradition, we name our People of the Year, three individuals who we feel have made a particularly important impression on the travel retail sector in 2017. And just to add a little Christmas spice, we have also added our three ‘Positive Disruptors’ of the year, three digitally focused entrepreneurs who are helping light the path forward for travel retail as it nears the third decade of the 21st century.
We also feature a compelling interview with Rémy Cointreau Chief Executive Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, a dynamic and charismatic individual who has driven a remarkable resurgence by one of our industry’s most influential family controlled enterprises. Among Ms Chapoulaud-Floquet’s many revelations is her creation of a strategy planning arm that she has dubbed a chambre de reflexion – a place to think differently and to challenge each other. It’s a smart idea from a very smart woman.
Perhaps unsurprisingly therefore, the same house is responsible for one of the most important Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to ever emanate from the drinks industry. Our story on page 28 is called ‘100 Years to save our planet.’ And if that sounds dramatic, that’s because it is. The 100 Years is a reference to a new composition by American singer/songwriter Pharrell Williams, recorded in association with Rémy Cointreau’s Louis XIII. That a Cognac house should release a song is noteworthy enough; but the real talking point is that the music will not be aired again until a century from now, in 2117. And even then, only if mankind has shown it cares enough to have combated climate change. It’s a must-read article on a critical subject.
In The Foodie Report’s final fare of 2017, we highlight some of the key moments in a tremendous year for travel food & beverage. And we examine the key themes that are shaping a sector that was recently (and rightly, in our view) dubbed “the new retail of airports”.
Please enjoy this year-end edition of The Moodie Davitt e-Zine with our compliments. Thank you for your readership and support throughout 2017. We wish all our readers a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.