From April 1st Campari France says goodbye to large retailers, with the exception of Monoprix where, however, it will be present with a new 70 cl format. Campari does not leave the big French brands because in crisis, indeed, business all over the world is booming thanks above all to Aperol, which alone is worth a fifth of the group's annual worldwide sales of over 2 billion euros, and which has been growing by double digits (over 16%) every year since 2004, with only one break due to the pandemic in 2020. Campari, which also boasts the Grand Marnier brand in its team, had only 1% penetration in France in the alcohol market.
Why will Campari France soon disappear from the shelves?
However, this is a temporary retreat because, as Campari France has officially declared, the resources will be concentrated in revaluing the brand in the Ho.Re:Ca: channel (bars, restaurants, hotels). “It is precisely in this sector that we can establish new habits and educate the consumer,” explained Géraud de la Noue, president of Campari France.
“Ten times more Campari is sold in Italy than in France, and five times more in Germany,” compares Noue. In France, consumers "don't know how to use Campari" due to its bitter taste, underlined Charlotte Rault, head of the aperitif division of Campari France.
The decision to leave French large-scale distribution fits into that new drink strategy based on cocktail-spritz of Venetian origin that has spread rapidly throughout the world. The idea is to implement the same spritz promotion program that the group built a few years ago with Aperol. Campari, therefore, intends to make a name for itself before returning through the main supermarket doors in a few years. In fact, he had also recently announced the start of the partnership with the Cannes Festival scheduled from 17 to 28 May 2022.
Campari: “Ready for new acquisitions”
In an interview with Reuters, the managing director Bob Kunze-Concewitz stated that the group is ready for new acquisitions as well as conquering new types of consumers all over the world, taking advantage of the great appeal of the Italian aperitif.
Campari bought Aperol in 2003 when the aperitif was drunk only in Veneto and its sales were less than 50 million euros a year and in 18 years the group has transformed Aperol into a world-famous brand, the main ingredient for the spritz cocktail.
Campari is majority-owned by the Luxembourg holding company Garavoglia family who has always refused the group's offers to sell. The recent transfer of the registered office to the Netherlands would be linked – the company says – to the need to be more flexible in financial operations aimed at growing through mergers and acquisitions and consolidating even more the shareholder in control of the company.
