Pastis: The Star Anise

The pastis market may be a mature one, but it is using tradition alongside innovation to recruit new consumers. Richard Woodard investigates

Brand owners love to talk about heritage and provenance these days, but clearly defined cultural associations can be both a blessing and a curse. The mere word ‘pastis’ conjures quintessentially French images of sunlit terrains de pétanque and sleepy Provençal afternoons – but try translating that summer holiday appeal to a rainy night in the UK’s Grimsby.

Henri Bardouin is possibly the most internationally focused and aware independent pastis brand but, of the 500,000 bottles of its pastis sold annually, only about 20% are exported. Even Pernod Ricard, with all its global clout and stellar portfolio, only sells about 25% of its pastis – Ricard and Pernod’s Pastis 51 brand – outside the borders of France.

“In France it’s still the number one spirit – number one in terms of consumption across all ages and all social categories,” says Mathieu Sabbagh, international director of Pernod, but speaking on behalf of Pernod Ricard’s entire anise stable. “The category is struggling, as many other categories in France are struggling at the moment because the market is so tough.”

Opportunities

At Marie Brizard, owner of Berger pastis and anise spirit Berger Blanc, product manager Ilze Latiseva agrees – but says there are still opportunities. “The pastis market is mature in France,” she says, “but Berger pastis is still showing a very good growth, especially in the on-trade channel (13.5%, Nielsen, MAT to December 14, 2014).

“In addition to that, Berger is the leader by far on the white anise-based spirits category with Berger Blanc [which has a] 45% market share (Nielsen, MAT to December 14, 2014).”

Given that pastis in particular is aimed, by Latiseva’s own admission, at “men, aged 50-plus”, it’s clear that, domestically at least, this is not the most dynamic of spirits categories. But what about overseas?

“Exports have been growing steadily for the past 10 years,” reports Sabbagh, noting that sales have doubled over the past 15 years in the top two markets – Belgium and Spain (but off a small base). “Slowly but surely, there has been growth – not super, big double-digit, ding-dong, but it’s steady and it’s very organic because we don’t have huge budgets.”

“We sell Henri Bardouin pastis in 45 countries, mostly in Europe,” says Jean-Baptiste Robert, export area manager at Distilleries et Domaines de Provence. “Out of Europe, about 15 countries, usually those where the Francophone or Francophile community is big enough, very linked to French culture.”

Typical consumers

Typical consumers are – predictably enough – French (plus Belgian or French Swiss) ex-pats, but also those British, German or American natives who have spent holidays in Provence (or have read the odd Peter Mayle novel).

So it’s clear that the French association is all-pervasive – pastis consumers are either French, French-speaking, or are so in love with French culture that they want to replicate those hazy Provençal afternoons in their own back gardens (even rainy ones in Grimsby). In terms of consumer appeal, this is highly restrictive.

The good news, however, is that these Francophile pastis enthusiasts are growing in number and are also far more likely to spend more on their liquid hobby. 

“Today we estimate that 2% of the category’s consumers are searching for a premium pastis,” says Robert. “But this proportion is growing, which is good for our brand. Among French expatriates, which are in general in advance on the other French customers, more than 20% of the pastis consumers search for a premium one. So I think in France we’ll reach this level one day.”

The big question facing pastis is whether to rely on its traditional trump cards of heritage and provenance to build an international following while maintaining domestic sales, or innovate to recruit new customers both at home and abroad.

With two leading brands – Ricard and Pastis 51 – Pernod Ricard would like to have it both ways, to be, in Sabbagh’s words, “innovative without killing the tradition and without hurting the heritage”.

He adds: “We want to conserve the heritage and I think we have our consumers that don’t want to be shaken with new ways of doing what has been working for many years. But we want to recruit new consumers too, younger consumers.”

So Ricard adopts a more traditional approach, pushing the regular “five-parts water to one-part pastis” consumption method, alongside classic cocktails including the Mauresque, Tomate and Perroquet. The Ricard Julep – first concocted at the Crillon in Paris in 1955 – is about as edgy as it gets.

As a younger brand, Pastis 51 can be more innovative, spawning Rosé and Glaciale (mint) variants, although these aren’t technically pastis. For Sabbagh, these new products mirror developments in so-called ‘flavoured whiskies’ – increasing category segmentation to recruit new, typically younger, consumers.

In much the same way, Marie Brizard’s Berger focuses on traditional consumption methods, but also promotes new signature cocktails – Latiseva namechecks Berger Mint, Berger Fraise and Le Mouton.

But iconoclasm isn’t an approach favoured by Jean-Baptiste Robert for Henri Bardouin. “Considering that French men turn to pastis when they turn 35 or 40 years old, addressing the younger customers doesn’t seem adequate,” he says. 

“I would more see the potential of development among women. Indeed, women are more and more searching for complex flavours. They also want lower alcohol, which is the case with pastis [when typically combined with water].”

Flavour innovation

Nor is he convinced by flavour innovation. “It will never be like flavoured vodka or, more recently, honey whisky,” says Robert. “The rosé, citrus and mint variants launched recently haven’t met high success either, in spite of the heavy marketing efforts invested. Pastis is not a modern drink, it’s not an old-fashioned one either. It’s like wine, quite disconnected from trends and time.”

Nonetheless, one connection with time is inescapable – pastis was only invented in the 1930s, following the outlawing of absinthe on public health grounds. Now that absinthe is back, does its rebirth threaten the future of the category created to replace it?

The consensus is no. Latiseva believes the product types (and their target consumers) are distinct enough to offer complementary opportunities for anis-based spirits in general, while Robert says: “Abroad, absinthe is initiating a lot of younger consumers to anise-based liquors. Some of these abroad consumers will turn to pastis when they turn 40.

“In France, where pastis is strong, absinthe is just 0.1% of the anis market (sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets are 80,000 bottles, compared to 70m for pastis), so obviously there’s no risk of cannibalisation.

“There is no threat from absinthe at all – totally the opposite for me,” adds Sabbagh. “Absinthe and the rebirth of absinthe is one of the great opportunities for pastis, because this is putting anise back in the mouth of the consumer.”

Indeed, Sabbagh cites the absinthe renaissance as one of the key reasons for his optimism that pastis exports will continue to rise in the coming years. “This is where absinthe has a role to play,” he says.

“Absinthe was the first drink that was exported to so many countries. It opened the way 150 years ago. Now, with the rebirth, it’s opening the way for the anise category and for pastis once again.”