Bacardi Limited Acquires St-Germain Liqueur
Bermuda-based Bacardi Limited has acquired St-Germain, the premium elderflower liqueur, a hand-crafted artisanal French liqueur made from 100% fresh, hand-selected elderflowers that blossom in Europe once a year, during a four-to-six week period in late spring.
When picked, they are swiftly delivered to small collection stations where harvesters are paid by the kilo for their flowers, often using specially rigged bicycles to carry them. This allows each harvester to work independently. The blossoms are quickly macerated to capture freshness and enhance the fruit-driven character of the elderflowers. St. Germain is an all-natural liqueur.
“St-Germain is one of the most exciting brands in the industry today,” said Facundo L. Bacardi, Chairman of Bacardi Limited.”Since its launch only six years ago as a modern liqueur with a delicious and distinctive taste, St-Germain has stayed true to its French craftsmanship, engaged the bartending community in a way that few spirits brands have, and won some of the industry’s most prestigious awards.”
“I chose to work with Bacardi as we share many of the same cultural tenets. They are truly committed to quality, integrity and maintaining the energy and aura we have worked so hard to create,” said Robert Cooper, creator of St-Germain and President of The Cooper Spirits Company.
“As a 150-year-old private and closely-held company that was founded on principles of quality, integrity and innovation, Bacardi is committed to the long-term. This allows Bacardi to have the latitude to maintain our ‘stop at nothing’ approach to our artisanal production process.
“With Bacardi’s help, St-Germain can now become a truly international brand. That’s something that would have been difficult for me to achieve as a small, creative brand-building company,” said Mr Cooper.
“The unique taste and balance of St-Germain mixes beautifully with our other brands. St-Germain brings fresh flavor to every cocktail,” said Ed Shirley, President and CEO of Bacardi Limited. “It is a natural fit for our portfolio, and we look forward to sharing it with consumers globally.”
“Bacardi looks for the most influential innovations in the industry to add to our portfolio—it’s really in our DNA,” said Barry Kabalkin, Vice Chairman of Bacardi Limited. “St-Germain is set to follow other successful Bacardi acquisitions of cutting-edge brands—Grey Goose super-premium vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin and Patrón tequila, in which Bacardi owns a significant minority stake. We are thrilled to add St-Germain to our highly focused portfolio of iconic brands and honored to be working with Rob Cooper who is one of the industry’s most successful innovators.”
“Bartenders and mixologists are true artists and have been incredibly supportive and gracious to spend time with me to learn about my vision behind St-Germain,” said Robert Cooper. “Bacardi understands the critical importance and stature of mixologists in the spirits industry and will further develop the initiatives we have started. With the resources of Bacardi, this is really exciting.”
As both entities are privately-owned, terms of the transaction are not available.
