Reaping the rewards of its strategy celebrating cocktail culture and above all its hero drinks: the Margarita and the Cosmopolitan.
At the heart of more than 500 cocktails and leader in its category, Cointreau smashed both its volume and its value records in 2021/2022. The brand has gone all-in on the Margarita since 2019 and is now reaping the rewards. As a key ingredient of the ultimate classic cocktail - the world’s fifth most popular1 - Cointreau is a must-have for bartenders and a firm favourite with customers. The resulting boom over the past year exceeded expectations and increased the brand’s Liqueur market share in all key markets: the United States, England, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia.
Of all the factors behind this success, the brand’s teams around the world come top of the list: they have outdone themselves in coming up with creative ways to promote the Margarita. In the United States, Cointreau received a boost from an exciting collaboration with Jessica Alba. In the United Kingdom, "Margarita Day" was relayed across a range of channels to reach as many people as possible: billboards, events (both in bars and at other venues), social media, home deliveries, etc. In Australia, a customised retro VW Kombi journeyed up and down the East coast, showcasing the versatility of this iconic tipple. And in France, Cointreau billboards once again caught the eye in the Metro and around points of sale. The brand did not neglect its long history with the influential hospitality sector either: one of the year’s highlights was the second Margarita Challenge, which attracted entries from professional bartenders in no fewer than 47 countries.
In terms of sustainability, the House doubled down on its commitments over 2021/2022. Solid action on sustainability issues from orange grove to glass is hardwired into Cointreau’s approach to excellence. The House therefore has a CSR plan in addition to its sales and marketing plan. Aligned with the Group’s sustainable development goals, it is built around three main pillars:
These commitments are part and parcel of how the brand operates. It works with suppliers holding internationally recognised sustainability certifications (57% of the groves from which it sources its sweet and bitter oranges are Global G.A.P. or Rainforest Alliance2 certified). It promotes responsible drinking with its new Alternative cocktails3 (which now represent 10% of the Cointreau cocktail menu). And it has cut CO2 emissions by introducing greener packaging and circular-economy principles (the 19 million Cointreau L’Unique bottles produced each year have been redesigned with the environment in mind and now contain two-thirds recycled glass - no mean feat given how hard recycled glass is to come by in France).
A new bottle design for Cointreau L’Unique will be released in 2022/2023 - its first update in 140 years! This release will coincide with a new marketing campaign emphasising Cointreau’s transformative powers - "Cointreau changes everything". Rest assured though: the change concerns only the bottle, not its contents!
1 Drinks International, The World’s Best-Selling Classic Cocktails 2021.
2 Global Good Agricultural Practice is a global organisation with a fundamental objective: promoting safe and sustainable agricultural production worldwide.
The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organisation working at the intersection of business, agriculture and forests to create a world where people and nature thrive in harmony.
3 Alternative cocktails are cocktails with an alcohol content of no more than 8% and whose ingredients do not exceed a combined equivalent of 25ml of 40% alcohol per glass.
