I have always said that Jose Ferrer He has been the great champion of the Freixenet epic and I have had the fortune of accompanying him in the transformation of the company.
His childhood was marked by the murder of his father and his older brother during the Spanish civil war when he was only 10 years old. Freixenet, which in the 1940s was the second largest cava producer in Penedés, far behind the first—Codorniú—was plunged into uncertainty. It was the women of the family – my grandmother, my mother and my aunts – who took the reins to recover the company, while my uncle was training to take charge of it, which happened in the late 1950s.
From the general management of the company and from the presidency since 1978, José Ferrer was an innovator who revolutionized Freixenet in all areas. He introduced new machinery that made it possible to automate the handling of cava bottles; promoted original production processes, such as the production of base wine in stainless steel tanks or the use of its own yeasts for fermentation; put new products on the market—such as Carta Nevada and Cordón Negro, which used frosted white and black bottles for the first time as a draw for consumers and a differentiating element compared to competitors; It relied on marketing and advertising to consolidate the brand through campaigns as groundbreaking as the famous bubbles, relying on internationally renowned figures; created a solid commercial network throughout Spain and, above all, undertook an ambitious internationalization process when no one in the sector believed it was possible to sell cava outside of Spain.
Currently, the company produces more than 110 million bottles, of which 75% is sold abroad.
In the mid-60s, my uncle appointed me commercial director. From that moment on, until 1999, I worked alongside him to turn Freixenet into the world leader in the production of sparkling wine. His legacy was very present in the years in which I held the presidency, from 1999 to 2018, the year in which the family made the decision to bring in a strategic partner, the German group Oetker, which acquired 50.07% of the capital of Freixenet.
José Ferrer is an unrepeatable figure who has embodied like no one else the formula of the three “t’s” that lead to success.: talent, work and tenacity. Personally, I lose my business mentor and teacher, the person whose example and legacy I have always tried to follow with deep admiration. And Catalonia and Spain lose a great businessman. One of those people who make a difference and who, with their drive, courage and daring, turn a local cava producer into the world leader in its sector.
José Luis Bonet
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