The big interview: Leo Evers, De Kuyper
While other companies might be reining things in given the troubles of the world, De Kuyper is taking the long, optimistic view, as CEO Leo Evers tells The Spirits Business.
*This interview was originally published in the July 2025 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.
“It’s an industry where we sell enjoyable moments in life,” says Leo Evers, CEO of Dutch producer De Kuyper Royal Distillers. “It’s also an inspiring industry, an exciting industry, where there’s room for new innovation.”
It has been just over a year since Evers took the CEO baton to continue the course for De Kuyper to “own the cocktail”.
“I started in the industry in January 1990,” Evers recalls. His CV boasts some heavyweight brands, beginning with Bols, before spending more than 25 years at Heineken in roles such as managing director Heineken Vietnam, and department manager Heineken Group Supply Chain Services. But it was a year after a move to Carlsberg that De Kuyper came calling.
“The De Kuyper family called and said, ‘Hey, are you interested in talking? We’re looking for somebody like you for the coming years, to rejuvenate the company and the strategy.’ And now, I’m already more than a year in,” Evers says, enthused by the family ownership of such a longstanding operation – which this year celebrates its 330th anniversary.
“I like to work for family companies,” he says, “that’s also what I experienced with the Heineken group. The fact that De Kuyper has already existed for 330 years, which is astonishing, was very appealing, and the eye for detail in terms of quality and innovation – and maybe above all, the opportunities that I saw in the company with its portfolio.”
Exploring opportunities
He continues: “In all honesty, I said, ‘If you’re looking for somebody to run a status quo in the company, that’s not me. If you want to have somebody that is exploring opportunities in a sustainable way, growing your company, then I’m your man.’”
Few companies can boast a centuries-long history like De Kuyper. For Evers, this is testament to the high standards the producer has adhered to during its existence. “One of my tasks,” he says, “is to bring the De Kuyper family from the 10th to the 11th generation. We have celebrations planned at our headquarters in Schiedam in the Netherlands, a city that has existed for 750 years. We’ve also developed a 330-year-edition liqueur, a 750-year-edition genever, and have activities planned for employees.”
Two qualities Evers believes makes De Kuyper “extremely strong”, and that have contributed heavily to the group’s longevity, are the speed of De Kuyper’s innovation and its quality. This is a company, he says, that is not looking from one financial quarter to the next, but at the bigger, longer-term picture. “Even in a difficult year like last year, we continued to increasingly invest behind our brand and behind our people. Sometimes during recessions or hard times – for instance, during Covid – a lot of companies tend to decrease their investment levels. But for me, we shouldn’t give up investment at that moment because there are opportunities there,” he says.
Retail success
So, where does Evers see openings for De Kuyper? Ready-to-serve (RTS) cocktails present vast opportunities for at-home consumption, Evers believes. De Kuyper released six RTS cocktails as part of its ‘own the cocktail’ strategy in 2023, which comprised an Espresso Martini, a Passionfruit Martini, a Piña Colada, a Strawberry Daiquiri, a Cosmopolitan, and a Clover Club. The range has found huge retail success in the company’s home market of the Netherlands, and in the UK, where it launched last year.
Soon after, De Kuyper unveiled two draught cocktails for the on-trade, an Espresso Martini and a Passionfruit Martini. The aim was to give venues – including festivals and events – that don’t have the training capacity or expertise in mixology the ability to deliver consistently great-quality cocktails each time.
“It’s growing rapidly,” Evers notes. “We have a number of musical theatres here in the Netherlands, and during the interval, they would love to serve cocktails. But when you only have a 20- or 30-minute break, you can’t spend three or four minutes per customer making cocktails. Now, in the big music theatres, they’ve got draught installations and they’re selling masses of cocktails during the break because it only takes 15 seconds.”
The RTS serves, from an at-home perspective, also offer consumers great value for money – extremely welcome in the current economic climate. “If you want to buy all the ingredients to make a proper cocktail [at home], that’s a lot of money,” Evers says. “Bartenders and mixologists will continue to play a very important role for us, particularly with our range of liqueurs, and we’re very grateful for all the support we always get from the mixologists and the bartenders. They’re also extremely innovative and great at making a cocktail accessible for a larger group of people.”
This ability to innovate has been crucial for the company, particularly as the past few years have been riddled with geopolitical challenges – high inflation, rising energy costs, international trade wars, and a consumer audience grappling with sky-high living costs. As a family-owned firm, Evers cannot disclose specific results, but he says: “Within De Kuyper, I think we are rightly situated with a focus on our cocktails. Looking at last year, I’m quite pleased. It’s very easy to look at your budget, but I’m more interested in how we are doing versus the competition, and, in terms of cocktails, we are gaining share in our key markets, which I think is very positive – and that’s predominantly because of our innovations.”
While many across the industry are scaling back and making cuts as economic circumstances bite, Evers sees a different way for De Kuyper. “In tough years, you should continue to invest behind your brands and behind your people – and that’s exactly what we’re doing. And I’m grateful to the [De Kuyper] family that they allow me to, and that they have the confidence that it’s good for the company in the long term.”
Regarding markets, the Netherlands, being the home of De Kuyper, is, of course, vital – and strong, Evers says. The UK is also important to the brand, largely because of the De Kuyper liqueurs, but also because of Archers. De Kuyper acquired peach schnapps brand Archers from Diageo in 2022 to complement the existing Peachtree liqueur in De Kuyper’s portfolio. For the past six to eight years, Evers says, Peachtree has taken off in Japan and South Korea. The portfolio of liqueurs is also thriving in large parts of Europe, Evers adds, and he eyes additional regional growth.
“I see a lot of opportunities globally in tourist areas, but also on cruise liners, for instance, where we are not present. But we closely follow the cocktail market, to see how it is developing, and look at where we should introduce our range, or pre-mixed cocktails.”
With his experience in Asia, Evers is certainly not overlooking the potential to expand more there too. Today, De Kuyper is distributed in more than 100 countries. The company’s portfolio not only comprises the De Kuyper liqueurs and ready-to-drink or serve products. It has a rounded collection, which also includes Rutte Gin, Cherry Heering, Mandarine Napoléon, Kwai Feh, and Warninks, to share just a few examples.
Alcohol-free options show potential
Furthermore, De Kuyper has also set its sights on a slice of the alcohol-free sector. In 2021, the company released a range of zero-ABV, pre-mixed cocktails, creating riffs on the Mojito, Strawberry Daiquiri, Margarita, and Pornstar Martini. Most recently, in March this year, the group elevated its alcohol-free offerings with the launch of Batched 0.0% for the on-trade. Designed to revolutionise the quick-moving alcohol-free category, the range consists of a Mojito, a Pornstar Martini, and a Strawberry Daiquiri. On top of this, De Kuyper also unveiled Peachtree Batched Sex on the Beach 0.0% for the on-trade, which made its debut in the Netherlands in May.
“It is still early days, but we’ve had very exciting responses,” Evers says. “These are not easy products to make. Our Pornstar Martini, which, of course, is a very popular cocktail, is quite a challenge at 0.0% [ABV]. That’s where quality and R&D comes in, and I’m extremely proud of our R&D department.”
Evers is confident the alcohol-free range will speak to younger drinkers, too. “It’s playing within a trend we see among younger consumers, where they drink more in moderation, where during the evening they drink both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. It’s also a bit of my sustainability agenda; it’s an important part,” Evers explains.
“I think that we should offer our consumers an experience, and if they choose not to drink in the evening, we also want to give them a great feeling, to stand with a glass of the 0.0 cocktail. I feel it’s an obligation of the De Kuyper company to deliver that experience to consumers.”
Innovation will not be slowing for De Kuyper any time soon. But what about mergers and acquisitions? Is De Kuyper in the market of growing its portfolio further this way?
“Is there an urgent need to acquire a certain brand of spirit? Not at this moment,” Evers says, “but on the other hand, if there’s an opportunity at the right time, at the right price, we will always look at that. Again, looking at the cocktail trends, we are leaders at De Kuyper, and we are in the right segments for cocktails.”
With a milestone year under way, Evers’ second as CEO, he is cautiously optimistic about what the next year and beyond might entail. Evers describes his outlook for the next 12 months as being: “Positive in a difficult environment. We remain committed to excite our consumers. Our focus will continue to be on quality and making cocktails accessible for everyone.
“So, will 2025 be a walk in the park for the industry?” he asks, rhetorically. “No, but I think at De Kuyper, we are well situated to continue the growth the company has made in the past in the future.”
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