Cointreau confident in growth of liqueurs

French liqueur brand Cointreau is confident it will achieve double-digit growth “within the next few years”, according to sixth generation of the Cointreau family Alfred Cointreau.

Alfred Cointreau, sixth generation of the Cointreau family and brand heritage manager

Brand owner Rémy Cointreau reported a 9.1% organic growth for liqueurs and spirits in the six months to September 2014, with Cointreau in particular enjoying a “solid performance” over the period as a result of “strong momentum in its major markets (US, France, Australia and Japan), and a favourable shipment phasing to the US”.

Now, with the recent UK launch of Cointreau Noir – inspired by an old Cointreau recipe that combined of the brand’s original liqueur with Cognac – Cointreau said he hopes the brand can break through the double-digit growth mark soon.

“With Cointreau we really want to increase our sales and achieve double digit growth within the next few years,” said Cointreau, who is also heritage manager. “The majority of that growth will come from our main markets in the US, Europe, Russia, Asia, China etc.

“So in other countries we want to start to introduce the bartender community to Cointreau, and now also Cointreau Noir in the UK.

“I want to reach a point that when anyone opens a bottle of Cointreau, they know exactly what’s inside.”

Bright future

Speaking generally on the liqueurs category as a whole, Cointreau added he is optimistic there is “a good future” for the segment, particularly in the US, Australia and the UK, which “all have very good markets.

“There is a very good future for liqueurs and I believe that new flavours and innovation are really going to help the category grow,” he explained.

“Consumers today want to drink less, but drink better, and we want to show them they can do this with Cointreau.

“We will be working very closely with bartenders to show teach them about the brand, the heritage, because that’s how we are going to get the message across to consumers.”