Latest news with #Cointreau
Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
Sauces & Saucemaking: When Generosity ought to trounce Parsimony
It's the badge above the grille of a fine old Studebaker. The funnel atop Cunard's Queen Mary as she glides regally into New York City. The final flourish of paint on a Van Gogh self-portrait before he signs it. It's the thing that makes a dish complete. It's the sauce. Years spent at culinary college, taking everything in. Hundreds of thousands of rand spent on setting up your restaurant. Hours and hours boiling down the chicken stock, and the veal stock. A lifetime of expertise devoted to making a beautiful sauce, using the stocks you made earlier, boiling it down with wine, and again with Cointreau, then reducing it with cream. And that, Chef – that little drizzle. That's all the sauce I get? For all their awards and expertise, some of the top chefs today are really mean with a sauce. I mean it in both senses. They make a mean sauce, in the sense of a killer sauce that'll have you swooning. For what? For more! Because despite all their laurels, way too many of our greatest chefs are really mean in the generosity department. A miserly little drizzle of sauce on your plate and the waiter's off to the next table. My habit is to beckon them back and ask for a small jug of it. A proud chef will not mind this; in fact, they'll bask in the warm glow of approval. Because there's nothing like a sauce to set a great chef apart from an also-ran. And they know it. Why, then, be so mean with a sauce? The answer they love to trot out is they don't want to 'mask' the other flavours. Well, thank you for your consideration, but I'll be the judge of that. And that's a very convenient argument, for the chef. Not so much for the diner. My classicist friend (his favourite sauce is Bordelaise) reminds me that chefs seem to have gone into this ungenerous mode, and become more and more minimalist, 'ever since (Paul) Bocuse moved away from the heavy classical sauces of Escoffier'. (Bordelaise is made with red wine, bone marrow, butter, shallots and Sauce Demi-Glace.) I might add: and ever since restaurateurs became more focused on the bottom line than they are on increasing the girth of your bottom. We accept that you have to make a fair profit, chef, but do not skimp on my sauce. Now that we've cleared that up, in my first GastroTurf column at the end of December, when most of you were busy elsewhere, I wrote about aromatics and my appreciation for the great Richard Olney and his classic, The French Menu Cookbook. It's not too late to go back and read my column, which you can do here. Olney, an American gourmand who lived in Paris, spends pages on sauces and things related to them, though no chapter is headed 'Sauces' as such. He ventures into sauce territory by first discussing wine in cooking, beginning with the firm admonition that 'a wine that is not good to drink is useless in the kitchen'. But he quickly changes course, adding, 'but because wines are transformed when boiled or simmered, their original character completely altered, it is foolish to waste a great wine in this content'. For a wine to be used in the making of a fine sauce, he recommends a robust, richly coloured young red or a lightly acidic young white. A cream sauce made with wine and/or other liquor such as brandy or liqueur can be truly spectacular, but wine can be used much more speedily and highly effectively simply by using it to deglaze a pan in which meat has been roasted, reduced with the scraping up of all the sticky bits at the bottom of the pan, and poured over the meat. You can whip one up in minutes or spend days making one. Fast or slow, hot or cold, or for that matter room temperature. You could spend a lifetime making a different sauce every day and yet have learnt to make only a fraction of all the possibilities in the world. The B échamel. The classic French tomato sauce. The V elouté, the Espagnole, the Hollandaise, these five being the French mother sauces. For a great chef, a sauce may be the final product of many processes. To make Marco Pierre White's Sauce Diable (recommended for offal), for instance, you'll need first to have made a good beef stock from scratch, and a good chicken stock, and then make a Diable reduction, which involves reducing white wine and white wine vinegar with peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves and shallots, which is then rested and strained, and only then start to make the Sauce Diable. This requires caramelising chicken winglets in olive oil, cooking them further with shallots and garlic, adding mushrooms, thyme and bay and cooking more, adding peppercorns and the Diable reduction, simmering and then adding the two stocks, simmering for half an hour and passing it through muslin. Then it's reduced again, to a coating consistency, and then you cook diced shallot in butter, dice more butter, and mix the last two into the reduced sauce. Et voila! – Sauce Diable. A Marco Pierre White book is a good thing to have, if you're serious about cooking, because he's all about the basics, just like Olney is. In my Canteen Cuisine book by MPW, you'll find the perfect beurre blanc and Hollandaise, the V elouté and the Béarnaise. There's also your Gribiche (cold sauce of boiled eggs, capers, gherkins, tarragon, parsley and olive oil), Sauternes (a cream sauce made with sweet white wine), and Sauce Aigre-Doux, a sweet-and-sour sauce of red wine and red wine vinegar sauce with garlic and shallots and made with veal stock, and recommended for tuna. So, the stock is the thing, for very many sauces. And a stock can be frozen, so on those odd occasions when I've gone mad and opened a restaurant (it takes a certain kind of madness), I would make stocks for many hours and keep them in the deep freezer. They can be made in large quantities and frozen in portions to suit your needs. Just remember to label them. If you wondered what a brown sauce was, Olney sets it out beautifully, as ever with a touch of wryness. 'Escoffier defines Sauce Demi-glace as an 'Espagnole brought to the extreme limit of perfection that it is susceptible of receiving, after a final cleansing (dépouillement)'. In today's kitchens, demi-glace and Espagnole are the same thing except that the latter (like 'brown sauce' or 'brown gravy'), thanks to a long history of careless or mendacious execution, has acquired a bad name, with the result that, no matter what the degree of perfection, a brown sauce is now most often called 'demi-glace' in English and French alike.' Odd word, mendacious, in that context. Note that Olney was writing this in the early Seventies. 'Whatever its name,' he continues, 'it continues to be attacked by some on the grounds that it makes everything taste alike. The only possible answer is that, obviously, it should not be used in everything.' Can't you just hear the sarcastic intonation in that, the cocked brow and flick of the hair. Those careless, lying Philistines have ruined the tradition of a perfectly good flour-based sauce. Not yet quite finished his takedown of a fiendish and naïve new direction in cooking, Olney detours to remark on what even then was a movement away from flour to thicken sauces. 'There is a movement afoot, fancied by protagonists to be purist, to cast flour from the kitchen – it has been pronounced an evil presence in all sauces.' He goes on to eviscerate the ensuing flourless sauce. 'The nouvelle demi-glace is a reduction of stock or braising juices that depends entirely on the liquid's natural gelatine for its body. The degree of reduction necessary to attain this body falls just short of that for a Sauce de Viande [meat glaze]; the intellectual purity of intent is betrayed by a suffocating concentration of taste and a gluey excess of gelatine.' Take that! What a delicious condemnation of flourless saucemaking. The brown sauce he refers to, if you're wondering, is that made by sprinkling flour on the meat and vegetables that have been browned in the pot, deglazed and covered with liquid, and simmered gently until braised, then 'strained and cleansed'. The early Seventies seems to have been a good time for books about sauces. Hamlyn's Guide to Sauces and Saucemaking, by Sonia Allison, was first published in 1970. Succinctly, she places sauces firmly in three categories. 'Almost every known sauce is a variation of a basic recipe and the great classics stem either from B échamel, Véloute or Supr ê me (the white group), from Espagnol or Spanish (the brown group) or from Hollandaise and Mayonnaise (the egg group).' Every classic is here, from Maitre d'Hotel (butter sauce for white fish) to Chaud-Froid which 'literally means hot-cold sauce; hot Béchamel sauce mixed with cold savoury jelly, such as aspic. When the sauce has cooled and thickened sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon, it is then used to coat cold buffet-type foods'. Today, though, the cold sauces on your common-or-garden hotel buffet are more likely to have come out of a bottle. And that's sad. Nothing in a bottle has been made with love. Nothing mass-produced is ever as good, even if nearly, as something made with care by an expert chef. Not even Mrs H.S Balls' original chutney. Maybe, in our own kitchens at home, we can make it a project to learn how to make a range of classic sauces, thereby becoming better cooks, better hosts (what's on our dinner party plates can only improve), and the better we get at this, the better we'll be able to tell the difference, when dining out, between a sauce that the chef clearly could have cared less about, and a great one. The one that will be drizzled on your plate while you glare at the waiter as he sashays to the next table, to pour the rest of your sauce onto someone else's plate. For too long (to borrow from Richard Olney) has there been careless or mendacious execution in the pouring of a sauce. So, be like Oliver Twist and repeat after me: 'Please, chef, may I have some more?' But add: '… of your wonderful sauce'. Butter them up. You'll get more. DM
Business Wire
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Wire
Cointreau and Aubrey Plaza Launch 'Any Tequila' to Remind the World That You Need Cointreau to Make a Margarita MargaRight
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cointreau, the iconic orange liqueur and the essential ingredient in The Original Margarita, is once again teaming up with the famously irreverent Aubrey Plaza for the latest evolution of the brand's MargaRight campaign. And this time, the partners are launching a new tequila kind of. In a world where celebrity tequila brands are increasingly popular, Aubrey Plaza and Cointreau are debuting one of their own. Introducing Any Tequila —a 100% celebrity-endorsed, 0% real brand with one very real purpose: to remind the world that it's Cointreau that makes a Margarita MargaRight. After all, it was the inventor of The Original Margarita, Margarita Sames, who said, 'A Margarita without Cointreau is not worth its salt.' Building on the viral success of the original Make Your Margarita MargaRight campaign, Plaza returns with her signature comedic edge to help Cointreau playfully enter the ever-growing tequila chat. The twist? Her new brand, Any Tequila, isn't real. Instead, the campaign spotlights the real star of the Margarita—Cointreau—which pairs perfectly with, literally, any tequila. As the #1 cocktail in the U.S., the Margarita has cemented its place as the year-round favorite for consumers, with consumption peaking during summer. Now more than ever, Margarita drinkers have so many options when it comes to the tequila they choose—with over 30% more options on the shelf now than just three years ago. So now is the time for Cointreau to make the decision easier for consumers. As the named brand in the original recipe, Cointreau is embracing its main character energy with a clever call to action: 'Any Tequila' can be any tequila you like, but you need Cointreau to make your Margarita MargaRight. "At Cointreau, we do believe that making the perfect Margarita should be simple," said Nicolas Beckers, President and CEO at Rémy Cointreau Americas. "With Aubrey Plaza and Any Tequila, we're bringing that message to life in a way that's both memorable and unmistakably MargaRight — reminding everyone that Cointreau is, and always has been, the essential ingredient in the Margarita.' Launching nationally on Thursday, June 12, 2025, the latest Cointreau MargaRight campaign arrives just in time for peak Margarita season. The campaign will appear across Cointreau's digital and social channels as well as through paid media including Connected TV, top streaming platforms, YouTube, social media, and more. To check out the new campaign, CLICK HERE. As always, to make your Margarita MargaRight, all you need are three simple ingredients: Cointreau, Any Tequila (yes, literally—whatever tequila you prefer), and fresh lime juice. Whether you're ordering one at the bar or shaking it up at home, make your Margarita MargaRight by heading to or @Cointreau_US on Instagram to learn more. The Original Margarita: *Sources: Sales: Tequila SKUs: Nielsen Liquor+, items per wtd distribution, 3 Year Trend ending 5.3.25; Margaritas on menus: RNDC Menu Trends YE March 2024; About Cointreau: Iconic orange liqueur creator and cocktail pioneer, Maison Cointreau was founded in 1849 in Angers, France. The brand's heritage as a liquorist-distiller lives on today at the heart of more than 500 cocktails, including the original Margarita and Cosmopolitan. Cointreau liqueur's distinctive character is the result of the meticulous selection, harmony, and distillation of sweet and bitter orange peel essences, a task entrusted to Maison Cointreau's Master Distiller. Unique and boasting exceptional organoleptic qualities, it's a staple for bartenders and at-home cocktail enthusiasts around the world. Visit and follow us on Instagram for more. To learn more about Cointreau, visit or follow Cointreau on Instagram via @Cointreau_US or Facebook via @cointreauUS. About Rémy Cointreau Throughout the world, there are customers looking for exceptional experiences, customers for whom the diversity of terroirs rhymes with the variety of flavors. Their requirement is commensurate with our customers of our know-how, this know-how which we ensure the transmission, from generation to generation. The time that these customers devote to tasting our products is a tribute to all those who have mobilized to develop them. It is for these men that Rémy Cointreau, a French family group, protects its terroirs, cultivates the exception of multi-centenarian spirits and undertakes to preserve their eternal modernity. The Group's portfolio includes 14 unique brands, including Rémy Martin & Louis XIII cognacs and Cointreau liqueur. Rémy Cointreau has only one ambition: to become the world leader in exceptional spirits, and to do so relies on the commitment and creativity of its 1,943 employees and on its distribution subsidiaries located in the Group's strategic markets. Rémy Cointreau is listed on Euronext Paris.
7NEWS
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Annabel Bower celebrates the King's Birthday Long Weekend with delicious recipes inspired by royalty
Annabel Bower is an Australian chef and food stylist that lives in Adelaide. She trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School which is a famous cooking school in Ireland. Today, she is going to showcase three delicious royal desserts: Classic Eton Mess Treacle tart (made from breadcrumbs and golden syrup – it was a family favourite for the Mancroft family) Buttermilk chocolate cake Recipe below: Classic Eton Mess by Annabel Bower @foodbyannabel Said to have originated at the famously proper Eton College and traditionally served at their annual cricket match against Harrow, this glorious jumble of berries, cream and crumbled meringue is as posh as it is imperfect—like many a British institution, really. And let's be honest, it's the perfect dessert for an Aussie gathering too—if your pavlova takes a tumble, don't panic. Just call it Eton Mess and carry on like royalty. Ingredients For the meringues 3 egg whites 1 cup castor sugar Raspberry Coulis 300gm frozen raspberries, defrosted. 1 tablespoon icing sugar 1 tablespoon Cointreau To assemble 500gm fresh strawberries, sliced thinly 200gms fresh raspberries - or any other fruit in season i.e. pomegranate, cherries. 200ml thickened cream 1tsp pure vanilla bean paste 1Tbs castor sugar 150gm Sour cream/ crème fraiche or mascarpone Equipment Stand or hand-held beater/mixer 2 flat baking trays lined with baking paper Metal ice-cream scoop Glass trifle bowl Method Preheat oven to 120 degrees (not fan forced, use the bake or top/bottom heat setting). Line 2 flat trays with baking paper. Using a stand mixer or hand-held electric beater, whisk egg whites until they become thick and opaque. When they start to form stiff peaks whisk in castor sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue until all the sugar has dissolved. Whisk for a further 30 seconds on high until thick and creamy. Using an old-fashioned ice-cream scoop, place golf ball – or tennis ball size dollops of meringue mixture onto the lined baking trays, evenly spaced. For individual desserts make smaller meringues, for a shared dessert make the bigger ones. Bake for 1 hour at 120 degrees, shutting the oven door carefully so as not to knock any air out of the meringues. After an hour, do not open the oven door, just turn off the oven and leave the meringues to cool in the oven over night or for the rest of the day. When cool remove from oven and gently transfer to an airtight container until day of serving. The meringues can be made 1-2 weeks ahead if stored in a cool dark spot. Just before serving whip the thickened cream until soft peaks form, stir in sugar and vanilla. Mix through sour cream/crème fraiche or mascarpone until smooth. Push the defrosted raspberries through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, stir through icing sugar and Cointreau to create a coulis. Slice the strawberries – you can add an extra dash of Cointreau to these if you like. To serve, layer a trifle dish or individual glass cups of bowls with all the elements, crushing the meringue as you go. Swirl to mix and eat as soon as possible. Annabel's Favorite Chocolate Cake by Annabel Bower @foodbyannabel This is my never-fail, always-devoured, 'can I lick the bowl?' chocolate cake. It made its first appearance in an English country house kitchen, baked for the three mischievous little ones I nannied, and has since become the star of every birthday bash for my own four children back home in Australia. Rich, fudgy, and impossibly moreish, it walks the line between classic English high-tea and Aussie backyard BBQ. It's the kind of cake that disappears before the candles have cooled—and honestly, it's so good you might find yourself baking it for no reason at all... and that's entirely encouraged. Ingredients 125gms butter, softened 1 cup castor sugar 2 eggs 1 Tbs vanilla bean paste 2/3 cup cocoa, sifted 1 cup milk + 2tsp balsamic vinegar* OR 1 cup + 2tsp buttermilk 1 ½ cups self-raising flour, sifted ½ cup hot water or hot coffee *The milk will curdle when you add the vinegar – this is supposed to happen! Icing 200gms Milk or dark chocolate (or a mix of both) 75gms butter To decorate – fresh berries and flowers or chocolates and sprinkles. This recipe is perfect for doubling – just make sure you've got a big enough bowl! Equipment 1 x 24cm springform cake tin, greased and base lined with baking paper Stand or hand-held beater/mixer. Method Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Add the vinegar to the milk and set aside. In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time making sure the first is fully incorporated before adding the second. Next add the vanilla and sift in the cocoa powder. Incorporate on a low speed. Add the milk, flour and water (or coffee) and beat on a low speed until smooth and velvety. Pour into you greased and lined cake tin and bake for 45-60 minutes. You will know the cake is cooked when the centre is no longer wobbly and you can pierce the centre of the cake with a skewer and it comes out clean. If the top of the cake begins to brown before the centre is cooked, loosely cover it with foil to prevent it from burning. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool before icing. The cake can be made in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer. Icing To make the icing simply melt together the butter and the chocolate. Either in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between each one or on the stove top on a very low heat stirring constantly. When melted it will become smooth and glossy, keep stirring once you remove it from the heat allowing it to cool slightly. Then pour over the cake starting in the centre, allowing the chocolate to drip down the sides. Decorate with fresh berries, or chocolates. Treakle Tart by Annabel Bower @foodbyannabel I'd never made a Treacle Tart until I found myself cooking in a grand Gloucestershire kitchen for The Lord and Lady Mancroft. Gooey, golden and outrageously sweet, it quickly became a Sunday staple—especially requested by Lord Mancroft himself, usually after a morning of polo, fox hunting, or some other thoroughly British pursuit. Known affectionately as a 'nursery pudding,' this tart is the kind of comfort food that makes you feel like you've earned a second slice… even if the only galloping you've done is to the table. Ingredients Pastry Shell 300gms sweet shortcrust pastry. Homemade or high-quality store bought. Filling 400gms golden syrup 1 lemon, zest grated 2 eggs, beaten 100gms fresh white breadcrumbs – made from fresh white bread with crusts cut off in a food processor. 1 tsp flaked sea salt or Maldon salt (optional) To serve Ice cream or clotted cream Equipment 22cm Tart baking tin with removable base, 1 baking tray for the tart tin to sit on. Food processor for breadcrumbs Baking beans – ceramic beads used to weigh down pastry during 'blind baking' which means baking a tart shell without its filling. Method Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Roll the chilled pastry out to a thickness of 0.5-0.75cm. Gently transfer into tart tin, pressing into the base and sides to form a tart shell. Chill again if it has become warm. Cover with baking paper which generously overhangs the edges of the pastry and tart tin. Fill with 'baking beans' or dried pulses or rice. Place tart tin on a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes then carefully remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Leave in oven and lower the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius. Mix together the filling whist the tart shell is being prebaked. Combine the golden syrup, lemon zest, eggs and breadcrumbs and whisk until there are no lumps. Carefully pull the baking tray with the tart tin out of the oven and pour in the filling. Gently shake to evenly distribute but be careful not to spill any down the sides of the pastry shell. Sprinkle with flaked salt if using. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until just set. Cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with clotted cream, crème fraiche or ice cream – vanilla or chocolate!
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The challenges facing Rémy Cointreau's new CEO
In under three weeks, former Shiseido and Chanel executive Franck Marilly will take the hot seat at Rémy Cointreau, joining a business where sales and profits have tumbled over the last 12 months. Marilly is also taking the helm at a spirits group where Cognac, a category under significant pressure in recent quarters, accounts for around 70% of sales. It's clear the new Rémy Cointreau CEO will have plenty in his in-tray and, while market watchers have a number of questions about the company's near-term prospects, there are, it's argued, some fundamental questions about the make-up of the business. The group's last financial year, which ran until the end of March, was another tough period for the Rémy Martin Cognac maker. Net profit decreased 34.4% to €121.2m ($138.4m), or by 36.8% organically. Operating profit was down 27.6% at €211m. The Bruichladdich whisky owner posted an 18% decline in full-year sales to €984.6m. It was the second successive year when sales and earnings declined. Rémy Cointreau was hit by falling Cognac sales amid a struggling category in the US – one of the two biggest markets for the spirit – and pressures in China, the other principal destination. The company has sought to point to positive signs for its Cognac business in both markets. In the Americas, fourth-quarter sales 'rebounded sharply', particularly in the US. Rémy Martin, the group added, had gained market share in China despite the 'persistently challenging market conditions' in the country. Marilly will take the reins as CEO as Rémy Cointreau nears the end of the first quarter of its new financial year and the market's eyes this week were on the company's thoughts for its 2025/26 fiscal period. The Cointreau liqueur maker expects sales to return to 'mid-single-digit growth on an organic basis'. It said the recovery would be 'driven primarily by a strong technical rebound in sales to the United States' starting in the first quarter. However, in a sign of the macro uncertainty hanging over Rémy Cointreau's Cognac business, its guidance for its so-called current operating profit came with a caveat. Tensions over tariffs, not just on imports to the US but on EU brandy shipments to China, meant Rémy Cointreau's projection for current operating profit was for growth 'in the high single-digit to low double-digit range' – but 'excluding any increase in customs duties in China and the United States'. At the moment, the company's 'worst-case scenario' is for the potential increase in tariffs to amount to €100m gross. This embedded content is not available in your region. Alongside the publication of Rémy Cointreau's full-year profits yesterday, the company became the latest major distiller to withdraw mid-term guidance. The group pulled its objectives for 2030 – drawn up a decade ago – pointing to 'the continued lack of macroeconomic visibility', tensions over tariffs and uncertainty over when the US market would recover. In February, Diageo pulled its medium-term guidance, citing 'macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty'. The same month, Pernod Ricard cut its sales forecasts, saying 'intense geopolitical uncertainties' were hitting the spirits sector. Analysts expected the withdrawal of Rémy Cointreau's guidance and more attention is on the near-term prospects of the company's Cognac portfolio in the US and China and, more broadly, how tariffs could impact the business. 'Management provided a more nuanced view of US depletions, confirming that while volumes remain mid-single-digit negative, the trend is improving sequentially. Notably, VSOP depletions are nearing flat, supported by tactical pricing actions and smaller formats,' Barclays analyst Laurence Whyatt wrote in a note to clients. He added, however, that outgoing CEO Eric Vallat has 'cautioned that it is still too early to declare a full sell-out recovery'. Across the Pacific in China, market conditions for Cognac are challenging for all brands, even if Rémy Cointreau has been able to eke out some market share gains for part of its portfolio, though, as Bernstein's Trevor Stirling says, it's unclear whether that progress has been achieved across the range. 'The Chinese market remains very weak with no near-term upside visible,' Bernstein said yesterday. 'However, Rémy has been consistently gaining share in XO, VSOP and e-commerce, though there was no mention of Louis XIII.' Reflecting on a post-results call between Rémy Cointreau and analysts, Whyatt said the company's management believes it can use the expected improvement in sales to bolster its position against any changes in tariffs. 'It clarified that the assumed €65m net tariff impact could be mitigated more aggressively than previously guided,' Whyatt said. 'Management now believes mitigation could reach 50–60% – up from the 35% initially communicated – if top-line momentum improves. This would reduce the net impact on current operating profit to €25–30m, suggesting a less severe downside scenario than originally feared.' It all adds to the impression that Marilly is walking into a pretty tough job. There are attributes of Rémy Cointreau's business that provide grounds for optimism. Its Cognac portfolio has a more premium bent that a few years ago, while its Liqueurs & Spirits – home to brands like Bruichladdich, Cointreau and The Botanist gin – has seen its organic sales jump by more than a third over the last five years (even if they fell by 9% in 2024/25). However, perhaps Marilly's fundamental task is to make Rémy Cointreau a broader business, one less reliant on Cognac. 'His big challenge is to further de-risk the company, diversify away from Cognac and diversify away from the US and China. Rémy Cointreau is just too dependent on those two countries and on the Cognac category,' one analyst who wished to remain anonymous said. That, of course, will take time – and require the company to be active in the M&A market. Last year, Rémy Cointreau set out plans to find €50m in costs during the fiscal period. Rémy Cointreau said yesterday it had extracted €85m over the last 12 months – and €230m over the last two years. It described more than half over those cuts as 'structural savings'. The group's net debt to EBITDA ratio stands at 2.4 times, providing, the unnamed analyst suggests some room for manoeuvre. 'The balance sheet is not too stretched and doesn't allow for massive acquisitions but there's ways around that if needed,' they said. 'It is important to make a clear step towards a more diversified structure from a category perspective and geographically.' Elsewhere in spirits, the likes of Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Campari have either sold assets in recent months, or have signalled more will follow. Those brands, however, have tended to be away from the more upmarket products Rémy Cointreau has tended to reach for in the past. The conundrum for the new Rémy Cointreau CEO will be finding the right kind of 'premium' asset, which more often than not are either small – so may not immediately help in any attempts to diversify – or be pricey. 'It has to do something with what they call terroir, preferably, with ageing, with a good story behind it,' the analyst says. 'That could be in Tequila, that could be in whisk(e)y, where I also would see probably the best fit with the company, probably the best growth opportunities. 'It would make sense to some extent, to make perhaps a little bit of a bolder move, because if you buy smaller brands, it's going to take a long time before you actually shift the balance a bit towards less Cognac. I know there's probably less opportunities when you think about bolder moves but it's definitely something that I think the board should consider.' "The challenges facing Rémy Cointreau's new CEO" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
French brandy and liqueur-maker Remy Cointreau axes sales targets as Trump tariffs bite
The maker of Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau liqueur has become the latest global drinks company to abandon its sales targets in the face of the trade war declared by US president Donald Trump. Paris-listed Remy Cointreau, which has teamed up with The White Lotus actress Aubrey Plaza to promote one of its brands, said that the 2030 goals that it had set out in 2020 were no longer realistic. It blamed tariffs as well as persistently slow US sales. However, the company's shares climbed 4 per cent as it said the worst has passed in terms of sluggish sales. 'We believe this difficult phase is now behind us,' said chief executive Eric Vallat. Its rivals, including Diageo and Pernod Ricard, have also withdrawn their sales targets as the sector endures a sharp slowdown from previous boom years for pricey liquors. But Remy, which makes 70 per cent of its sales from cognac, mostly in the US and China, has suffered more than peers as drinkers in both nations ditch the brandy and both governments have levied tariffs.
