FRANCE – Pernod Ricard, the world’s second-largest seller of wines and spirits, has acquired a majority stake in Cockorico, a French-based brand specializing in premium ready-to-serve cocktails.
Founded in Lyon, France by three spirits and hospitality business experts – mixologist Marc Bonneton and entrepreneurs Julien Maurel and Geoffroy Clavel in 2019, Cockorico offers pre-mixed, ready-to-serve bottled cocktails including an Old Fashioned, a Cosmopolitan, and a Negroni.
The French Group has invested in its domestic unit–Pernod Ricard France–and will provide distribution and guidance to the brand’s founders, who will remain with the business.
Presently, the Cockorico is only sold in France however, sales volumes have not been disclosed.
Philippe Coutin, chairman of Pernod Ricard France, said: “We are delighted to begin this partnership with Cockorico, which has experienced exceptional growth since its creation. We firmly believe that we will achieve even more together by leveraging both the strength of our distribution network and our expertise in ready-to-serve products.”
“Our collaboration also opens up opportunities to develop new projects together through the combination of our highly complementary innovation capabilities.”
Adding on Coutin statement, Bonneton said they share common values with Pernod Ricard centered around ‘conviviality’, stringent quality requirements, and excellence of the products and are very excited about the strategic alliance in ready-to-serve.
He further explained that when Cockorico was created three years ago, the team sought to make premium cocktails more widely available.
Driven by a passion for creating, they have been able to innovate to meet new expectations of their customers and consumers, and leveraging the Pernod Ricard distribution network, the team will continue and accelerate the development.
Before the Cockorico investment, Pernod Ricard’s pre-mixed-cocktail ventures had focused exclusively on ready-to-drink (RTD) expressions of its flagship spirits brands, including Beefeater, Malfy, Jameson, and Malibu.
In November, the group invested US$22m at its production facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas, intending to improve its RTD manufacturing capabilities in the US.
Moreover, the drinks giant reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Château Sainte Marguerite in March, with the transaction slated to be completed in the months that followed.
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