JFK travel retail gets a taste of St-Germain

By Caroline Sargent |

Bacardi Global Travel Retail reports a successful launch of the French liqueur St-Germain, made from hand-picked elderflower blossoms, into US travel retail.

International Shoppes at JFK Terminal 8 was chosen as the launch location to reflect the popularity of St-Germain in the New York domestic market, and its popularity with bartenders on the city’s iconic cocktail scene.

Throughout the month of December, shoppers were invited to step into the St-Germain bar, a stand-alone exclusively branded area of the store featuring luxury Parisian art deco-style bar cues and imagery.

Supported by the call to action ‘Vive L’Aperitif,’ shoppers were able to taste a range of St-Germain cocktail aperitifs. Prominently positioned floor-standing merchandising display units gave visual support to the busy bar activity.

Exquisitely balanced, the aperitif has a ‘fresh, versatile and refined character’ making it an ‘exceptional’ pairing for every base spirit, says Bacardi. Expertly made using hand-harvested flowers, the St-Germain taste profile is elderflower, tropical fruits, grapefruit and pear, with a hint of citrus.

The fluted glass bottle makes a striking visual impact on-shelf with its art deco and gothic look, representing a mix of influences and styles in Paris over the decades. Each bottle is stamped with a number identifying its vintage and its elderflower harvest, underscoring the hand-crafted nature of the product.

Geoff Biggs, Regional Director Americas, Bacardi Global Travel Retail, explains the category-driving strategy behind the launch of St-Germain in the US travel market:

“Liqueurs have great potential to play a more dynamic role in travel retail and Bacardi believes the strongest incremental opportunity is in ‘new news’ high quality brands such as St-Germain, with its unique heritage appeal to cocktail lovers who love its flavour and versatility.

“We’re delighted with the look and feel of this experience with International Shoppes.

“We plan to bring more unique excitement of this kind to airport stores in the US as part of our strategy to drive growth in all segments of the liquor category and, specifically, to create disruption with shoppers at the second stage of luxury – those people looking for new and unique brands as a way of differentiating themselves from the norm.

“We’ll now be rolling the experience out to Boston Logan and Philadelphia International and to cruise lines later in 2015.”

Celebrity and Norwegian Cruise Lines are already running additional consumer engagement on St-Germain in their specialist cocktail lounges.

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