“Before the pandemic, people didn’t even know what was in a Negroni or a Spritz, then they started Google for recipes.”
Here is a typical case of ‘resilience’: Covid was expected to threaten alcohol sales due to restrictions in bars and restaurants but instead it did not happen so and indeed Campari, world leader, registers a revenue boom.
He explains it to Financial Times the CEO of the company, who provides that the “culture of making cocktails at home“will survive the pandemic, and thus showing the optimism of the largest alcoholic groups in the world that the crisis of coronavirus has permanently changed drinking habits domestic.
The Italian group worth 15 billion euros, which together with Campari it is the home of brands Aperol, Wild Turkey whiskey and Grand Marnier, proved to be one of the winners of the pandemic, as containment measures have pushed more consumers to drinking alcohol at home.
“The pandemic has established a culture of making cocktails at home,” explained the CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz to the authoritative British newspaper. “People didn’t even know what goes into a Negroni or in one spritzer, then the pandemic came and people started to search for recipes on Google“.
As with rival alcohol groups, the pandemic has forced a abrupt change of strategy on a company that has traditionally focused its sales strategy and marketing firepower on bars and clubs, including through branded stands.
The company quickly launched video tutorials for cocktails based on Campari and sold gods online kit. “We were able to intercept the trend change and to shift sales and marketing strategies from traditional to non-traditional venues, and our chain has reacted well, ”said Kunze-Concewitz.
The boom in alcohol at home has been awarded by investors while it irritates brewers who are believed not to have ‘rode’ the wave. The head of AB InBev, the largest beer producer in the world, denied that beer gave way to alcohol during the pandemic. The shares of Campari, which went public in 2001 but remains controlled by the family Garavoglia, I am increased by 44% in 2021.
This compares with a gain of 27% for the S&P 500 last year. Kunze-Concewitz, who has led the company since 2007, said the controlling stake in the Garavoglia family allows Campari to have a “long-term vision” and gradually build its brands.
In the first nine months of 2021, i profits before taxes of the group are increased by 56% to 343 million euros compared to the previous year, while the sales increased by 27%. The performance prompted the company to offer staff the option to buy shares of the group through a share plan last month. The reopening of economies for much of last year has also helped group sales in bars and restaurants.
“We are in the convivial phase of ‘revenge’, people want to go out and get distracted and are not sure how long it will last”, said Kunze-Concewitz. While he remains optimistic about the long-term outlook, the manager has nevertheless warned that rising costs and inflation will, in his view, lead to a price increases for consumers.
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