Campari posts 16.4% growth for FY 2022

Wild Turkey owner Campari Group has posted organic growth of 16.4% for its 2022 financial year, boosted by ‘robust’ brand momentum and pricing.

The company’s net sales for the year ending December 2022 grew by 24.2% on a reported basis, up to €2.69 billion (US$2.87bn).

Bob Kunze-Concewitz, chief executive officer, said: “In a challenging 2022, we continued to make solid progress in pursuing our long-term growth strategy focusing on sustainable brand building, as well as portfolio enhancement via attractive acquisitions.

“Compared with the pre-pandemic period, our net sales grew by 40% organically thanks to strong brand health, pricing, as well as enhanced commercial capabilities driving strong consumer demand.”

Regional growth

The Americas accounted for 46% of total group sales, and saw organic growth of 16.6%.

The Group’s largest market, the US, grew by 14% thanks to continued positive momentum in the on-premise and resilient home consumption.

The positive full-year performance in the region was mainly driven by the double-digit growth of Espolòn Tequila, Wild Turkey Bourbon, Russell’s Reserve, Aperol, and Campari, thanks to strong consumer demand, and the benefit of price increases.

Sales in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew by 18.2%.

The region’s largest market, Italy, was up by 15.4% thanks to strong on-premise consumption and successful price increases, helped also by good weather during the summer.

France grew by 12.1%, mainly driven by the double-digit growth of Aperol (35.5%). Spain, Nigeria and South Africa posted ‘strong’ double-digit growth.

North, Central and Eastern Europe grew organically by 14.9%.

Germany registered strong growth of 18.6% thanks to continued resilient home consumption combined with a strong on-premise, boosted also by pricing.

The performance was largely led by Aperol (31.9%), Aperol Spritz ready-to-enjoy and Crodino, whilst Campari also grew by mid-single digits following the strong price repositioning.

The UK grew by 13.7%, boosted by the continued positive momentum of Aperol (20.9%) and Magnum Tonic, despite product availability constraints of the latter.

Global travel retail (GTR) was up by 80.8%, benefitting from the recovery of the tourism industry.

Jamaica registered strong double-digit growth driven by Wray & Nephew Overproof and Campari.

Sales in Asia Pacific increased organically by 12.4%.

Australia grew by 9.6%, driven by strong shipments recovery in the fourth quarter of Wild Turkey ready-to-drink following persistent ocean freight constraints.

Other markets in the region registered a positive performance, with South Korea seeing 84.1% growth.

However, China was negative due to lockdowns in relation to the country’s zero-Covid policy.

‘Healthy brand growth’

In 2022, Wild Turkey Bourbon grew by 26.2% thanks to a combination of classic cocktail revival in the on-premise channel and at-home mixology, as well as strong pricing.

Russell’s Reserve grew by 36.4% as consumers continued to premiumise and ‘discover’ high-quality sipping Bourbon.

Aperol delivered strong double-digit growth of 28.2% across all key markets, thanks to very healthy brand momentum and the successful execution of its growth model, further boosted by price increases.

Campari delivered strong growth of 23.8% with continued momentum in the fourth quarter.

Grand Marnier saw positive growth thanks to GTR and France, which offset the weak shipment performance in the core US market, impacted by glass supply and logistics constraints.

The company’s Jamaican rum portfolio grew by 15.5%, mainly thanks to Jamaica, the UK, Mexico and New Zealand.

Skyy vodka declined by 1.8% largely due to the US and China, though this was partly mitigated by other international markets.

‘Positive business momentum’

Looking forward, Kunze-Concewitz said the company remained confident about the positive business momentum across key brands and markets, thanks to strong brand equity, seen particularly in its apéritifs.

“We will continue to leverage adequate price opportunities in specialties as well as portfolio premiumisation in brown spirits,” he said.

“The overall macro environment for inflation remains challenging despite some signs of easing; nevertheless, we remain confident to preserve the current operating margin on sales at the organic level.

“Looking at the medium term, we remain confident to continue delivering strong organic topline growth and mix improvement leading to margin expansion. To satisfy future demand, we are accelerating our investments in supply chain with the aim to double our overall production capacity in key aperitifs, bourbon and Tequila categories.”

Earlier this month, Campari America’s head of marketing, Andrea Sengara, told The Spirits Business that online searches for the Negroni Sbagliato, fuelled by the viral Tik Tok post featuring House of Dragons’ Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, generated a 5,640% search boost for Campari in 2022.