I had lunch last week with a Man in the Know, a guy involved in the spirits supply biz, and we were talking about recent spirits industry doings - Bacardi's recent purchase of 42 Below vodka, the increasing super-premiumization of the major suppliers, and what might be next. He pointed out something obvious - none of the major suppliers had yet paid much attention to the emergence of cachaca as a category. Sure, Diageo launched Oronoco Rum last year in three markets as a hybrid rum/cachaca, but it's not even listed on their website today. Meanwhile, I can think of at least five new brands gaining traction to varying degrees in the U.S. market - Aqua Luca, Beleza Pura, Cabana, Leblon, Mae de Ouro - joining the three veteran brands - Ypioca, Pitu and 51 - that have been available for years.
The Man pointed out that these new brands, pushed hard by young entrepreneurs, are built in the model of Grey Goose and other vodka brands that took the spirit world by storm. So which one goes first and who's buying? Diageo? Pernod? Future? Stay tuned.
The big idea here is cachaça: it's arrived. along with its cocktail the caipirinha, cachaça muddles with fresh fruit, goes great with food (like the marg), and plays well in the bar chef game. EVERYONE is tired of vodka (mama mia!), and Big Liquor knows that tastelessly posing at the end of the bar is no way to go through life. whether its Dave, Olie, Matti, Joe, or us at Leblon (www.liveloveleblon.com), the cachaça movement is about bringing consumers something new and better - from Brazil - something BL doesn't have, and (run-on sentence) you are probably right: people tend to want what they don't have. new and better tends to do that to some people. and we're having a lot of fun doing the new and better!
Posted by: Steve Luttmann | March 02, 2007 at 12:46 AM
Well said, Dave. But what if? What if your volume got to the point that you were attractive to buyers? Or if your business got so good that expansion was a possibility and some guy from a big company walked in with a fistful of bucks in return for which they'd take a share? I presume anyone who works as hard as you and many others do building a brand bit by bit would at least consider a big payday, no?
What I was getting at wasn't really the idea that entrepreneurs like yourself were looking for a big payout, as much as I was pointing out the obvious (my specialty): Big Liquor is in a buying mood, and cachaca is a likely target.
Posted by: Jack Robertiello | February 03, 2007 at 05:44 PM
Though I do not question the knowledge of "The Man" Cachaca Mae De Ouro is definitely NOT following the Grey Goose model. Our bottle is stock, our label is paper, our product is not even labeled premium and we have no print advertising. All the money is spent on the liquid in the bottle, and the company is not for sale. Let everyone chase that big payday, MdO is made well and priced well to be enjoyed by all consumers, that's our motivation. Enough said.
Dave Catania
Cachaca Fazenda Mae De Ouro
http://www.caipirinha.us
Posted by: Cachaca Dave | January 30, 2007 at 06:03 PM