Campari Q1 sales soar by 29.4%

Aperol owner Campari Group reported double-digit sales growth for the first quarter of 2022, led by its core apéritif brands.

For the first three months of this year, the Italian drinks firm saw organic sales increase by 29.4% to €534.8 million (US$563m).

The first quarter sales followed Campari Group’s double-digit growth for 2021, compared with both of its 2020 and 2019 performances.

The company attributed its Q1 growth to the ‘strong’ recovery of the European on-trade, which helped drive growth of its flagship apéritifs, including Aperol and Campari.

Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO of Campari Group, said: “Overall we had a very solid start to the year with continuing underlying momentum and strong on-premise recovery in Europe.

“This positive performance was amplified also by phasing and easy comparison bases in a low seasonality quarter.”

Campari Group’s ‘global priority’ brands grew organically by 30.6% over the quarter.

Aperol’s sales soared by 71.9%, led by its core Italian market (up by 101.4%), Germany (up by 79.2%), the US (up by 51.2%), France (up by 79.5%) and the rest of Europe.

Meanwhile, Campari climbed by 56.6%, driven by triple-digit growth (118.7%) in Italy, and growth in the US, Jamaica, Germany, Brazil and France.

Wild Turkey Bourbon rose by 14%, mainly driven by its core US market and Australia, as well as Japan and South Korea.

Grand Marnier liqueur grew by 8.9%, thanks to the US, while the Jamaican rum portfolio increased by 6.5%, driven by ‘favourable category trends in premium rum’.

However, Skyy vodka registered a decline of 11.5%, mainly attributed to the comparison base in the US when the brand was relaunched with a new recipe and design in May 2021. However, the company noted that the brand continued to grow in global markets.

Among its ‘regional priority’ brands, which rose by 31.7%, Espolòn Tequila climbed by 29.2%.

The Glen Grant Scotch brand also recorded double-digit growth, boosted by premiumisation in South Korea, China and global travel retail.

The ‘local priorities’ arm increased by 19.6%, with the company singling out growth from the bottled Campari Soda, Wild Turkey’s ready-to-drink (RTD) offering, and X-Rated liqueur and vodka.

Market performance

The firm’s largest market, the US, grew by 6.6% during the three-month period, thanks to ‘resilient’ home consumption and ‘renewed strength’ in the on-trade. Canada increased by 9.4% and Jamaica rose by 20.1%. The rest of the Americas region, including Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, were up by double digits.

Sales in Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa soared by 61.2%. The region’s largest market, Italy, rocketed by 70.2%, mainly driven by the on-trade’s strong recovery.

The North, Central and Eastern Europe region grew by 33.2%. Within the region, Germany recorded a 41.5% sales growth, led by Aperol, the new Aperol Spritz RTD, Campari, as well as non-alcoholic aperitivo Crodino from a small base.

The UK market was up by 26.6%, mainly driven by Aperol and the Magnum Tonic RTD.

Sales in Asia Pacific increased by 18.4%, with Australia rising by 5.4%. Other markets in the region were up 50%, including South Korea, which climbed by 105.7%. China was stagnant due to snap Covid-19 lockdowns, the firm said.

Future confidence

Kunze-Concewitz added: “Looking at the remainder of 2022, we remain confident about the continued strong business momentum across our key brands and markets.

“Meanwhile, the overall performance will reflect the effects of a gradual normalisation of the shipments due to phasing, different comparison bases throughout the rest of the year and the conflict in Ukraine.

“Concomitantly, volatility and uncertainty remain due to the ongoing pandemic and geopolitical tensions.

“We confirm our guidance of flat organic EBIT [earnings before interest and tax] margin in 2022 as we will leverage adequate price increases and positive mix to mitigate the expected intensification of the inflationary pressure on input costs.”