Campari: Canadian whisky will be as big as Bourbon

Canadian whisky has the potential to be as big as Bourbon and American whiskey in the US, Campari’s CEO has claimed.

Campari bought Canadian whisky Forty Creek believing the category has the potential to be as big as Bourbon in the US

The prediction comes as the Italian drinks group announced plans yesterday (12 March) to purchase the Forty Creek Distillery in Ontario, Canada for CAD$185.6m (€120.5m).

“Canadian whisky is larger than Bourbon in Canada, and almost as big as Bourbon in the US, so it’s a significant category,” Bob Kunze-Concewitz told reporters on a conference call. “There’s a big resurgence in brown spirits, especially North American whiskeys, and this will add significantly to the appeal of our portfolio in that key market.”

According to Campari, the Canadian whisky category accounts for 8% of the overall US spirits market, with 16.5m nine-litre cases.

Asked if Canadian whisky could be as big as Bourbon on an international level, Kunze-Concewitz replied: “Yes, over the mid to long-term.”

Campari’s CEO revealed the group was more interested in acquiring a Canadian whisky brand than Irish or Japanese, as the two categories “are already in very firm hands” and are “concentrated categories”.

“We saw the opportunity of acquiring a gem,” he added. “This is a very high end, hand-crafted brand that for six years in a row is the fastest growing Canadian whisky in Canada.”

The acquisition of Forty Creek Distillery aids Campari in increasing its “critical mass” in Canada and the US. The group plans to combine its existing portfolio with that of Forty Creek, which produces a line of liqueurs, vodka and gin as well as whisky, to create its own distribution platform, which will become operational at the start of 2015.

Forty Creek Whisky accounts for 62% of the Canadian distillery’s sales, and shifted 80,000 cases in 2012. It is the seventh-largest Canadian Whisky in the US, growing at a rate of 23% – the largest gain of any of the top brands.