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WINE & SPIRIT INTERNATIONAL |
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| INTERVIEW: MICHEL ROUX, CRILLON IMPORTERS Dedicated
And now it appears he is ready to embark on a new chapter, adding more strings to an already impressive bow and further successfully revamped drinks to a list that makes up the Roux saga. Can it happen again? Roux believes it can, even though his new company, Crillon Importers is opening with mostly niche-market specialty beverages, well out of the mainstream of American drinks. The new company, formed late in 1998, will represent all of the non-vodka and gin beverages of Sweden-based Vin & Sprit, including the company's premium aquavits, O.P. Anderson, Skane and Herrgards, as well as a new line of herbal-infused aquavits. Crillon will also represent Rhum Barbancourt from Haiti (perhaps the only mainstream spirit in the portfolio) and has an alliance with Distilleries et Domaines de Provence to market H.B. Pastis, Elisir du Dr Roux (a new product) and RinQuinQuin peach apéritif. There is also Le Vin du Coeur, a rosé wine enhanced with natural polyphenols, compounds present in wine that are believed to help prevent heart disease. Not a million-case item in the lot, but Roux is as upbeat as ever. "What I want to do is present wine and spirits with an added value," he explains. "I wanted to put some of the goodness of nature in the bottle. The Elisir du Dr Roux is a good example, with 14 different herbs and spices added to the spirits base." The idea of the Le Vin du Coeur (wine of the heart) came to him while he recovered from heart surgery last year. "It really made me think about what I could do that would be good for the health. Polyphenols, as I'm sure you know, are compounds in wine that are credited with helping the heart. With the Vin du Coeur, we added more natural polyphenols. I may not be able to claim that the wine is good for you, but I can claim that what we added is," Roux laughs. Roux and Vin & Spirit of Sweden are also developing several new aquavits, flavored with herbs and botanicals. "We have one that contains St. John's Wort, which is being called a natural Prozac," Roux says. "I am definitely having fun with these new products. It is very different than working with a traditional spirit such as vodka or gin." Is this approach part of his 'added-value' marketing concept? "Absolutely. Why not add something to a spirit that may enhance its health value." He is also taking advantage of the strength of a booming market in herbal medicine in the US, part of what some market analysts see as a consumer counter culture that is increasingly suspicious of additives, genetically engineered vegetables and corporate agriculture in general. He sees it as a growing market and one which he can't fail to benefit from. As for specific categories, Roux is excited about the Rhum Barbancourt, believed by many to be the finest Haitian rum, and already a fast growing brand. "I had something to do with that before. We had the brand when I was with Carillon. We will give it a much bigger distribution here and it should grow fast." "We also plan to introduce a white rum, which will be a distillation made directly from the sugar cane, with no molasses. We will present that as a hand-crafted premium rum, the top of the line for white rums." He will also offer three dark rums, the Three Star, Five Star Reserve and Estate Reserve, which represent different age levels. |
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Michel Roux is a legend in spirits marketing in
the US. As president and CEO of Carillon Importers he was the man who
developed the marketing strategies that led to the huge US success of Absolut
and Stolichnaya vodkas, Bombay Sapphire gin and numerous other wines and
spirits. Not only did he use his many charitable interests to position the
spirits with a 'do good' marketing strategy, but he was also far sighted enough
to be one of the first to tap into the huge gay and lesbian sector in the US
with an advertising and marketing campaign specifically tailored towards them.
