Bacardi aims to recapture classic cocktails

The market leading white rum brand, first produced by Don Facundo Bacardi, is making a concerted effort to recapture lost ground in the UK. The company recognises that it suffers from a “perception” problem, and is aiming to reinforce its classic credentials by emphasising its role as the original spirit in the Mojito and Daiquiri, and targeting the top end of the on-trade.

Sales have declined significantly in the last couple of years. According to Nielsen, during the twelve months to July 2007 the white rum sector was down 10% by volume and 8% by value – with Bacardi Superior dominating the category. As a result the company has initiated an audacious strategy in a bid to turn around the fortunes of its ailing asset.
The product was the first rum to be used to make two of the most popular cocktails in the world, but bartenders now tend to use aged golden rums in their recipes. The Bacardi team aimed to educate the top bartenders of this historical anomaly at the Bacardi La Legacia celebrations in London last week. 120 top bartenders and opinion formers were invited to meet master blender José Gomez to learn that Bacardi is rather more than just a big commodity brand – the event represented the first time the notoriously secret Bacardi family has engaged so openly with either the trade or the press. Visitors included representatives from Mahiki, the Dorchester and La Floridita – not exactly the typical Bacardi crowd.
Dave Paskins of Gorgeous Group gave a masterclass in cocktail history, explaining: “Using a golden rum in a Daiquiri or Mojito adds an additional flavour of the wood, but it loses some of the freshness that was at the heart of the original recipe”. UK marketing manager Sharon Reid then commented, “There’s a perception that the longer time the rum sits in the barrel the better quality the product will be – we’re challenging that point of view. We want to educate the trade that Bacardi Superior rum is white for a very good reason.”
Reid confirmed that following the La Legacia events, the next stage of the strategy is to get key bartenders to devise their own cocktails using the brand. These will then be compiled in a new book which will be published later this year.

Ben Grant, 13/02/08