Cono Sur gets back on its bike

Cono Sur has extended its partnership with the Tour de France by another three years after last year’s deal helped the Chilean brand achieve record UK growth.

The producer, whose portfolio includes a “Bicicleta” range, now plans to return with a new activity programme built around this year’s event, which begins on 4 July.

In the weeks surrounding the 2014 tour’s “Grand Départ” in Yorkshire, Cono Sur enjoyed a 73.6% uplift in UK sales, before ending the year with 100% year-on-year growth and helping Chilean Pinot Noir off-trade sales to overtake those of New Zealand in this market for the first time.

With this year’s Grand Départ taking place in the Netherlands and Belgium, Cono Sur’s partnership will see the brand take part in the “caravan” preceding the main race. Its UK activity will see Tour de France branding on its bottles as part of a wider in-store marketing drive, as well as a radio advertising campaign.

Announcing the extended partnership, Cono Sur marketing manager Dan Featherstone said: “We’re obsessed with bikes, so it made absolute sense to build on this relationship with the most famous cycling event in the world. We know that when people try our wines, they love them, so it’s all about giving people something extra to remember our brand by – it’s ‘the one with the bicycle on the front’.“

Welcoming the deal with Cono Sur, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, said: “The Tour, like the vineyard, has strong European roots, but is constantly gaining new territories in the world!”