A drink with… Philippe Jouhaud, Bénédictine

The marketing director for French liqueur Bénédictine on attracting the attention of the world’s bartenders.

Philippe Jouhaud, marketing director for French liqueur Bénédictine

What are the roots of your brand?

The brand dates back to 1510. The monks of the Benedictine Abbey in Fécamp, in Normandy, France, were using different herbs and spices for creating elixirs. One created a recipe that became famous in the region. Then, during the French Revolution, the monks had to escape and the books from the library were lost. But the last surviving monk managed to save some and gave them to the Le Grande family, with whom the Abbey had a long relationship. The grandson, Alexandre Le Grande, started selling the product in 1863 and today it is still made at the palace he built for the brand, about 1.5km away from where the Abbey was in Fécamp.

How do you position a brand with such rich heritage?

We are working in two directions. One is about offering simple signature drinks to consumers, because when you make drinks at home you don’t want them to be complicated. And we want to make sure that the brand stays top-of-mind in the bar scene. We are not going to teach bartenders how to make cocktails but we remind them that Bénédictine has always been an incredible ingredient in classic cocktails and that it is a key modifier because it has such a unique taste profile – there is absolutely no substitute.

How do you connect with bartenders?

We want to make sure that key mixologists are able to discover the product in terms of where it is made. We have such an incredible experience at the palace in Fécamp, with incredibly rich brand archives. It’s a very important experience and we really want to make sure they can learn more about the brand so that they really return to their outlets as ambassadors. When you enter top cocktail bars and you tell the mixologist that you’re from Bénédictine, the reply is more or less always the same: “Oh, this is one of my favourite drinks.” It’s incredible.

Are there any cocktail trends you’re trying to tap into at the moment?

We are seeing a revival and reinterpretation of classic cocktails. Bénédictine has always been an ingredient in cocktails like the Vieux Carré, like the Bobby Burns, like the Singapore Sling – the list of classic cocktails in which it is one of the key ingredients is extremely long, so the revival is something we can benefit from. Another trend that we’ve seen in top cocktail bars in France – especially in Paris – is that the mixologists are keen to rediscover old French products, traditional liqueurs and drinks, and they are keen to make cocktails using only original French products. In the UK we’ve seen a trend for hot cocktails in recent years, and one of the most attractive and easy ways to drink Bénédictine is what we call the Bene’n’Hot: just Bénédictine, hot water and a slice of lemon.

Are you planning any line extensions?

The first Bénédictine extension, B&B, was launched in 1937; it was the first premix in the history of drinks, and it still exists. At the time, the B&B cocktail was becoming pretty popular in the US, and the Bénédictine company felt there could be an opportunity there. They decided to make their own B&B, mixing Bénédictine and French brandy, and it worked extremely well. The other product, Single Cask, is, let’s say, an upgraded version of B&B, at a slightly higher proof. And we regularly work on limited editions, mostly for the travel retail market.

Which markets are you focusing on?

Today we sell the most in three key regions: Western Europe; North America, where it’s not just about Bénédictine but also about B&B; then the last key destination for us is Southeast Asia, where traditionally Bénédictine has very strong distribution and penetration in markets such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Are there any emerging markets you’d like to crack?

We don’t do much business in China because it is a relatively limited liqueur market, but this is definitely one country we are looking at. We’re not yet in India, which is still a very difficult market to work with, and we hope at some point that we’ll also be able to do business in some of the African countries, like South Africa or Nigeria, because there is certainly potential there.