A Drink With… Manuel Terron, Midori

Manuel Terron, global brand ambassador for Midori is on a one-man mission to rejuvenate the traditional melon liqueur in bartender’s minds. He tells Becky Paskin how.

Midori has been kicking around for decades. How are you, and brand-owner Suntory, helping it fit into today’s modern cocktail scene?
Midori was first launched in 1978 and was a big hit with bartenders though the 80s and 90s, but nowadays there is so much choice on the market it has become somewhat forgotten. My mission is to communicate the premium components of the brand and the fact it’s made with fresh ingredients. There’s a big global trend now of using fresh ingredients and that’s the golden opportunity for us to promote the fact that we are not only the original melon liqueur but we create it from these two very high quality, fresh melons.

Haven’t you always communicated Midori’s ingredients though?
Up until four years ago Suntory were very cagey about sharing any information about the brand, but bartenders became suspicious because there were no real specifics about the product, only that Midori is green, is made from melons and was launched in 1978. Suntory realised in order to get the bartenders back they had to release what they deemed “sensitive information”.

Now of course we know Midori is created from a distillate of Yubari melons that forms the heart of the product. It’s good that they finally caved in and that I get to be the one to deliver that message. They’ve taken a huge leap of faith in the last year and a half and allowed me to take the Yubari distillate around the world to get bartenders to taste it.

What’s the reaction been like from the bartending community?
There are a lot of misconceptions about the brand, because even in countries where it’s been popular and a bar staple, bartenders still don’t know much about it and don’t use it. But when I talk to them about it and explain the product in detail – its history, ingredients, production method – they see it in a new light and get excited about it again, but you have to get in front of them and show them what it’s all about. Midori has almost become a victim of its own success in the sense its popularity has made bartenders’ love of it wane slightly, which is one reason why Suntory asked me, someone who’s worked in the industry for 25 years, to help deliver their brand message.

Is it really that easy?
I guess the most challenging aspect is to debunk a lot of those myths from well-established bartenders who have deep seated notions about the brand. The emerging markets are easy as it’s essentially a new product for them, but bartenders have their minds set with this ingrained knowledge and sometimes they don’t want to listen. Sometimes they think they know it all already.

Whereas the ones who have been in the business for a long, long time are a bit more open. Generally I do get a lot more kickback in the long established markets like the UK, US and Australia where I have to resurrect the brand in their eyes, and sometimes that is much harder than it sounds. They have a huge history of cocktails and they are trying to incorporate all these new innovations from around the world and do things that are on-trend.

Would you say that’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
Yes. That and the travelling. I must be one of the only global brand ambassadors in this business based out of Australia. I chose to live right near Sydney airport because I hate travelling for hours to get there, although the airplanes can sometimes be a bit of a bother. When I got the position with Suntory I was so glad they didn’t ask me to move because I really do love the lifestyle in Australia.