Liqueurs: growing the brand, not the category
supermarket sector will not come about though growing the category
as a whole but rather through a simple focus on the brand itself,
Blavod Drinks managing director Richard Ambler told Chris
Jones this week.
As we reported on Tuesday, Blavod Drinks has just been awarded the UK off-trade distribution rights by the Bordeaux-based liqueur company, and has high hopes for the drinks given the growing popularity of cocktails in the UK market.
But market research from Mintel suggested that while there was still plenty of growth in the UK liqueur market, in both the on- and off-trade, most of this was coming from cream liqueurs such as Baileys or trendy drinks like absinth - not from traditional flavour ranges such as those produced by Marie Brizard.
Ambler's assessment of the potential in the market is somewhat more optimistic, however. "Attracting interest in this sector was much easier than I thought it would be," he told FoodandDrinkEurope.com. "Retail buyers have got their finger on the pulse - they can see that the RTD category is in decline and are now looking for something to take its place. The popularity of cocktails in the on-trade led them to focus on liqueurs."
After little more than a month in charge of the Marie Brizard brand in the off-trade, Ambler's company has already signed up one major retail chain and one major wholesaler, suggesting that interest in the liqueur sector is not limited to Baileys and its imitators.
"All the major UK retail chains stock a range of flavour liqueurs, so our job is to convince them that Marie Brizard is a better brand to stock than their existing one, rather than the much harder task of persuading them to free up shelf-space for an untried product category," Ambler said.
"Asda, for example, already have nine lines of flavour liqueurs, from traditional favourites like Blue Curacao and Cherry Brandy to more exotic ones like Crème de Banane and Parfait Amour, so selling Marie Brizard's brands to a company like them comes down just two things - quality and margin."
Ambler suggested that Marie Brizard's focus on the liqueur sector gave it an advantage over the likes of Bols, the UK's leading flavoured liqueur brand which is part of the much bigger Maxxium group.
"Marie Brizard's reputation is well-known and its traditional focus on this category means that it has a perceived quality advantage over other brands. Whether this is actually true or not is almost irrelevant - the perception is there and that is the most important thing when it comes to persuading people to switch brands."
As for margins, Ambler said that this was perhaps more of an issue in the on-trade, where a high margin product can add a lot of value to a cocktail at minimal expense, but said that supermarkets were also attracted by the profit possibilities.
"A lot of these products do not contain any alcohol at all - take Grenadine, for example - but they are widely perceived as alcoholic drinks by the consumer. So a retailer can put a significant mark-up on a product like this and the consumer will still feel they are getting a bargain, simply because the cost price is lower as there is no duty to pay.
"We've also found that the strength of the liqueurs with alcohol in them varies greatly according to brand - the same basic liqueur may be 20 per cent abv at one company and 24 per cent at another, which means switching from one brand to another can give an instant profit."
Blavod Drinks will work closely with its retail partners to develop the market for Marie Brizard, focusing mainly on tastings rather than price promotions. But the real tasting opportunities for the liqueurs comes in the on-trade, and Blavod will also work with distributor Waverley Vintners which holds the on-trade distribution rights for the French brand.
"There are a number of liqueur ranges to choose from in the UK, but we find that as barmen in the UK become more sophisticated in their cocktail design, they are also looking for a brand with a recognised name and quality. And if we can persuade them that Marie Brizard is the brand to choose, then the profile of the brand will be instantly raised, just from the bottles sitting behind the bar. And consumers will look out for it in stores as well."
The one major difference between the on- and off-trade is in pack size. "All the liqueurs we sell to retailers are in 50cl packs. The bars want 70cl or bigger," said Ambler. "Liqueurs are not heavy-use products, even if they are more widely used than just in cocktails, becoming increasingly popular as a flavour enhancer for home-made cakes or ice cream, for example. So selling them in a 50cl bottle allows retailers to position them at an £8.99 price point, below the psychologically more difficult £10 threshold."
