"What is a craft spirit company ... the term needs to be defined" says Alexandre Ricard, CEO of
Pernod Ricard one of the world's leading wine & spirits company in a recent article in the
Spirits Business Magazine.
A craft spirit company is centered around the product, the people, the small scale, and the personal touch of hand work.
In contrast, spirit companies which are not craft are focused on shareholders, marketing, packaging, advertising and promotions, sales, campaigns, market research, and ROI.
- Craft Scalability
Consumers are looking for more authentic flavors based on the growing interest in learning of the traditional production methods. Gen-Xers and Millennials are also prioritizing the concept of local and artisan made products. The concept of farm-to-bottle is very enticing to these people.
“We're monitoring craft very closely. To really enter the craft segment in the US, you need to have a long-term view: Is there a real distillery that is craft? What is its scale-ability?” says Alexandre Ricard in
Just-Drinks.com.
But there are many risks to invest in Craft spirits where scaling up becomes a problem, i.e., Tito's Handmade Vodka being recently under scrutiny when producing over 2 million cases of vodka.
My guess is that Pernod Ricard will get a Bourbon Craft brand very soon.
Source: Just-Drinks.com
