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January 17, 2007
Noilly Prat Vermouth & Bacardi Making Moves
Bacardi Ltd. is set to add France’s Noilly Prat vermouth to its global premium portfolio and says it will be “investing significantly” behind the brand in the coming year through a new global marketing platform. Financial details of the marketing push were not released.
“Joining the Bacardi group’s premium brands portfolio is wonderful news for Noilly Prat,” said the brand’s general manager, Aude Rocourt. “It’s a huge opportunity for the brand to get back on the worldwide scene, reach new consumers and remind old ones what it is about Noilly Prat that makes it so special.”
Photo: Noilly Prat's new stage: Bacardi has added the vermouth brand to its global premium range.
The vermouth brand—whose heritage dates back to 1813—is produced by aging white wines in oak casks outdoors, exposed to the Mediterranean sun, sea and wind for 12 months, after which a blend of 20 herbs and spices are macerated in the liquid for a period of three weeks. It’s served chilled on its own or in a variety of cocktails, including the classic dry martini.
Bacardi has owned Noilly Prat since 1992, when it purchased the Martini & Rossi spirits group, but has seen its sales slide in the U.S. and other key markets. The brand regained a bit of ground in the U.S. vermouth market—which Martini & Rossi’s name brand dominates with a nearly two-thirds share (it costs about 25% less than Noilly Prat)—early on in the current decade under the care of Bacardi’s frequent global partner Brown-Forman, rising from 25,000 cases in 2003 to 50,000 in 2004, but has remained flat since then and in transition mode as Bacardi chose to bring it back under its own wing.
Source: “Bacardi Makes Push with Noilly Prat,” Dan Marsteller, Wine Spectator, January 12, 2007
Posted by fortna at January 17, 2007 11:17 AM
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