Bache-Gabrielsen Cognac joins Behn-backed Family Brands Alliance

Independent Cognac house Bache-Gabrielsen has joined the Family Brands Alliance – the informal partnership founded by German spirits company Waldemar Behn to help fellow family-owned drinks firms develop in travel retail.

With the exception of Norwegian duty free, which comes on stream from 1 May, 2019 the agreement is effective from 1 May 2018.

Waldemar Behn Managing Director Rüdiger Behn (right) and Waldemar Behn Global Sales Director Torben Vedel Andersen announce the deal to The Moodie Davitt Report at the Summit of the Americas

The Cognac house was founded by Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen, originally from Holmestrand, Norway in 1905. It has remained in family hands ever since and is now run by Bache-Gabrielsen’s great-grandson Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen.

Waldemar Behn, which already enjoys a strong travel retail presence, owns a diverse portfolio of brands, including Danzka vodka, Dooley’s, Andalö, Blavod, Kleiner Feigling, Radeberger and many more. The family business was founded in 1892 by Waldemar Behn. Today it is run by fourth-generation brothers Rüdiger and Waldemar Behn.

As reported last September, Italian Limoncello specialist Pallini was the first company to join the Behn portfolio in the Family Brands Alliance.

“The Bache-Gabrielsen brand is very strong in Norwegian duty free in particular,” said Rüdiger Behn. “The products are very high quality, including a Grand Champagne Cognac. They have very, very nice packaging. We are delighted to add such a quality Cognac to the Family Brands Alliance portfolio. The brand has a lot of potential in other parts of the world, too.”

Bache-Gabrielsen’s product range includes a Grand Champagne Cognac, a ‘Pure and Rustic’ range and Bølgen and Bergier cuvée line

Q&A with Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen

The Moodie Davitt Report: What drew you to the Alliance?

Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen: We have been connected to Waldemar Behn since 2017 when they were looking for a Cognac brand to enter the Alliance. Bache-Gabrielsen, being one of the medium-sized Cognac brands that is still 100% family-owned, was interesting for Waldemar Behn to consider for the Alliance portfolio. Then we got to know key people at Waldemar Behn, especially Export Director Philippe Biais and Managing Director Rüdiger Behn.

We could easily say that we shared the same values and the same idea of doing business. In our family business, everything is about people and product.

Then we got to know the Pallini Limoncello owner and key staff, who all confirmed how the Alliance is beneficial for their brand.

I personally like the idea of being stronger together when it comes to getting visibility with key travel retail operators. This is a simple idea but sometimes simple ideas are the best ones.

The Cognac brand is now run by Founder Bache-Gabrielsen’s great-grandson Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen

How key is travel retail to your company today? And what are your hopes for the channel?

Travel retail is a key market for Bache-Gabrielsen, both in terms of sales volumes and brand recognition. Our main market in this field is Scandinavia, where we achieve approximately 10% of our total turnover. In addition to this, we have also secured some listings in the Middle East and Asia. But we still have a long way to go and this is where the Alliance will help Bache-Gabrielsen to gain some traction in travel retail markets such as the USA, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Bache-Gabrielsen will help brands such as Danzka and Pallini in the Scandinavian market, and Danzka and Pallini will help Bache-Gabrielsen in other markets, it’s as simple as that. The Family Brands Alliance is a unique operation system which guarantees logistics efficiency while securing each brand’s independence and strategy.


Will the agreement with Family Brands Alliance cover all duty free markets? Norway and Scandinavia, in particular?

Yes, it will. Of course, it took me some time to decide that Norway and Scandinavia will be part of this deal. We are convinced what we give on one hand with our existing business will be compensated by what we can get by joining the Alliance network.

The Alliance will be our exclusive partner for the global duty free and travel retail market. It would cost us a lot of money and time to get the same in-house efficiency on a global scale. With this deal, we can go for a plug and play strategy and achieve global awareness. And at the same time our own sales staff will have more energy to focus on domestic market development.

We have also great confidence in our American Oak Cognac, the first Cognac ever matured in American and French Oak casks, and our VSOP Triple Cask, which both make a true alternative offer to other Cognac houses’ ranges. This will attract new customers into the Cognac category and bring some diversity.

We want to work hard now and reach the goals.

 

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