Well travelled

In line with Collard’s assessment, François Plantecoste, business acceleration director at Mumm and Perrier-Jouët, says in mature champagne markets such as Europe, sales are driven by value-for-money and specific deals while there’s an opportunity for showcasing in other regions. “We will renew our theatralised pop-up space in Miami Airport with Perrier-Jouët, with a new concept featuring the artist revealed during the Design Miami art fair.” Perrier-Jouêt is the fastest growing champagne in GTR, for the second year running gaining momentum, Plantecoste says: “But Pernod Ricard champagnes do not have their fair share in GTR yet, so we see room for further growth in this channel”.

At Vranken-Pommery-Monopole, global travel retail and airlines director Myriam Renard, takes the view that it’s “our duty to give our customers the chance to find our champagnes, wherever they are when they travel, whether it be in their favourite restaurant in Asia, on their preferred rooftop bar in the US or on the airline which takes them there”. To this end prestige Cuvée Louise is in Lufthansa first class, Pommery Brut Royal and Grand Cru 2006 on board United Airlines and Heidsieck Monopole Silver Top with Air France.

The company doesn’t design new products specifically for this sector, but with a large range to choose from, works closely with the operators to find the most relevant, according to the nationality of the passengers.

Like other houses with new, off-dry champagnes styles for mixing or drinking over ice, Pommery is pushing its latest Royal Blue Sky release in what it sees as the perfect environment for such a drink. It will be showing it to travel retailer clients at Cannes, along with, at the other extreme, the new Brut Nature (no dosage) version of Pommery Cuvée Louise 2004. Put together with POP in quarter-size bottles in a four-pack, art collectors, limited editions – “one of our best sellers in the travel retail channel,” says Renard – and you’ve nearly all points covered.

DO BETTER IN ASIA

Christophe Juarez, the new directeur général at Nicolas Feuillatte CVC reports a “dynamic start in 2016 in the global travel sector, with significant growth in all sectors: airlines, cruise line and duty-free, in line with our objectives”. He adds: “Our main customers are still airline companies. Historically we’ve had a good foothold in the European markets and still do, but we’ve had a very nice development in America this year. We still need to do better in Asia, but we are working on this.

“We think of ourselves as the winegrowers’ grande marque. But as we are only 40 years old, we are the youngest grande maison de Champagne and we still need to attract new consumers and invite them to taste our cuvées. We see travel retail as a great shop window for affluent customers to find the brand.

“Nicolas Feuillatte is served on board several airlines, mainly in business, but also in first class. The Brut Réserve, which is our flagship NV cuvée, is our bestseller, but we’ve also created a travel retail exclusive in the shape of Collection Particulière Champagne by Nicolas Feuillatte for Camus. We offer tailor-made packages for each client to help them express their own positioning in the market. In this respect, the size of our company is a real asset as it allows us to be both flexible and reactive,” says Juarez.

For Lanson, last month (September) saw the launch at Charles de Gaulle airport of its new, limited-edition Music Box packaging, which enables amplified sound when linked with your smartphone. Basically, using it as a speaker so you can play your favourite sounds while sipping Black Label or Lanson’s rosé. Olivier de la Giraudière at Lanson says it is in discussion with retailers about listing prestige lines such as the single vineyard Clos Lanson and the just released Ecocert certified Green Label Organic cuvée.