JAMAICA. Campari Group has completed its biggest investment in travel retail yet with the opening of the first Appleton Estate boutique at Montego Bay Sangster International Airport. The boutique is prominently located within the Dufry walk-through store at the airport. Last week The Moodie Davitt Report and other selected media guests attended the store’s inauguration; further coverage will follow across our platforms.
Campari Group Global Travel Retail said the installation of a permanent boutique experience accelerates the brand owner’s positioning in the premium rum segment.
The boutique represents the largest and most digitally advanced activation in the brand’s history, engaging shoppers via a self-guided, immersive journey that blends physical and digital touchpoints.
The latest Appleton Estate release, Ruby Anniversary Edition, is a key feature of the space with a dedicated allocation of this limited edition available at the Sangster boutique. Appleton Estate Ruby Anniversary edition comprises a blend of five rare rums, each aged for a minimum of 35 years, chosen from the finest stock in Appleton Estate’s 200,000+ barrels.
A sensorial journey
The central focus of the experience – both physically and digitally – is the distinctive Appleton Estate Insignia, formed of five national symbols of Jamaica* that are integral to the Appleton Estate brand identity.
Brought to life as a striking 3D modernist copper sculpture in the centre of the space, it invites consumers to discover more about the brand’s origin and terroir. Its copper tones are echoed in the principal framework architecture of the store, reflecting Appleton Estate’s use of traditional copper pot stills.
Listen to MBJ Airports CEO Shane Munroe address how the new boutique delivers on the airport vision to create Sense of Place
The insignia is the starting point for the shopper’s interactive experience with a tap of the screen. With instant image recognition from their mobile device, scanning the front label of any bottle in-store the shopper will discover dynamic content about an age statement and the story behind it. Appleton Estate Master Blender Joy Spence also narrates stories about each expression’s characteristics and taste profile and their journey ‘from cane to cup’.
In-store the shopper journey incorporates a series of interactive and multisensorial chapters in the brand experience:
- An engaging film runs on a huge wall-sized digital screen, sharing the sights and sounds of each stage in the crafting of Appleton Estate, synchronised with patterns of shifting lighting that fill the large circular ceiling with spatial surround-sound.
- At the bar, brand ambassadors host cocktail demonstrations and guided tastings of the permanent portfolio available in-store: Appleton Estate Signature, Appleton Estate 8 Year Old Reserve, Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Casks, Appleton Estate 15 Year Old Black River Casks, Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Nassau Valley Casks.
- Shoppers can use their personalised digital Insignia guide on their mobile device to discover key serves and classic cocktails to make at home. This also drives sign-up to the Appleton Estate e-mail newsletter to deepen the brand’s relationship and communication with the shopper.
- The guided taste experience also encourages the shopper to discover the premium gifting quality of the range, including two levels of free personalisation service on the Appleton Estate 15 Year Old and 21 Year Old. Brand Ambassadors help shoppers create their own message via the digital platform, accessed via a QR-enabled neck hanger on the purchased bottle. The gift recipients are invited to discover more about their gift and encouraged to share on their social media.
Campari Group Global Strategic Travel Retail Managing Director Marco Cavagnera said: “We are thrilled to open the Appleton Estate experience at Montego Bay Airport, just 50 miles from where our incredible rums are lovingly crafted. It’s a perfect premium location to engage shoppers by showcasing every facet of Appleton Estate; its rich history, passion for natural ingredients, local provenance, the skill of our Master Blender Joy Spence and the versatility of the award-winning portfolio created under her guidance, ensuring there is an Appleton Estate rum for any elevated occasion, from premium cocktail-making to sipping rums.
“Our goal is to prioritise the consumer experience of Appleton Estate, inviting travellers to discover this beautiful rum’s story and craft in an evocative way. This omnichannel approach blends the right balance of technology and face-to-face interaction, creating a highly connected experience enabling us to track engagement and improve our understanding and relationship with our consumers.”
Appleton Estate Master Blender Joy Spence said the opening was a “dream come true” and represented a “special, unique day” in the history of the rum brand.
She said: “This boutique ensures that Appleton Estate will be one of the final memories of Jamaica for travellers before they leave. As a Master Blender I’m governed by my senses and I wanted to reflect that in how our boutique comes to life. There is sight, sound, smell, touch and taste of course, all linked with our emotions and our memories.”
Spence also reinforced the elements that make Appleton stand out in the rum sector. These include prominent minimum age statements on all aged rums as well as Jamaican GI rum classification which guarantees no additives, ageing solely in Jamaica, and the use of pure, filtered limestone water in the production process.
At the launch event, Campari Group Group Brand Premiumization Managing Director Jean-Jacques Dubau said: “It’s important for us as it’s the first Appleton Estate boutique at any airport, and it comes as travel is returning. We will test and learn the concept here in the brand’s home of Jamaica. It’s an opportunity to expose the brand to travellers mostly from North America but from Europe too.”
Click above for comments from Enrique Urioste (Dufry) and Marco Cavagnera (Campari Group) at the inauguration.
Dufry President & CEO Latam & Caribbean Enrique Urioste said: “It is a real pleasure to mark this milestone. The people who pushed to make this happen are the people I want to thank. We recognise the potential of this airport, as tourism grows, and the need to have a store like this one. We are convinced this is the beginning of a long and successful journey with Campari not only here but at many other airports.”
Speaking on behalf of airports company MBJ Airports, CEO Shane Munroe said: “I am delighted to welcome you to the newest addition to the departures experience at MBJ, the Appleton Estate Montego Bay Boutique. I first had the opportunity to visit Appleton Estate over 30 years ago, and it was an eye-opening experience to see the products created from sugar cane. This [store] showcases that experience and offers passengers who have had not had the opportunity to visit the estate a multi-sensory experience of the rich history surrounding Appleton.
“A few years ago when we set out the vision for Sangster International Airport we created Sense of Place guidelines with a theme for each part of the arrivals and departures journey. We wanted to offer passengers an experience that is uniquely Jamaican at every step. This area [housing the Appleton Estate boutique] represents ‘natural Jamaica’ and one of the most natural elements is sugar cane. It is an integral part of Jamaican culture and heritage.
“The boutique is especially relevant as it’s the first experience post-security as you enter the departures retail area. The store elegantly showcases the country’s unique culture, and is an authentic taste of Jamaica. We hope it is unique, memorable and we salute Dufry and Campari.”
| Travel retail rebound buoys Campari Group in 2022 Campari Group recently released its full-year results for 2022, with net sales of €2.7 billion, up by +16.4% in organic terms year-on-year. The performance was driven by “robust” brand momentum, boosted also by price increases. The three-year CAGR against 2019 stood at a positive +11.8%. Global Travel Retail division revenues climbed +80.8% thanks to strong performances from Aperol, Campari, The Glen Grant and Grand Marnier, each benefiting from tourism recovery in key markets. The Jamaican rum portfolio represented around 6% of sales in 2022. Appleton Estate was positive overall (+3.2%) against a tough comparison base (+31% in FY 2021), thanks to its core Jamaican business, plus the UK as well as New Zealand and Mexico. Wray&Nephew Overproof grew +23.2% thanks to Jamaica and the USA. Group net profit reached €333 million last year, up +16.9% on FY2021. |
On Campari Group’s wider premiumisation drive, Dubau later said: “Through the enhancement of our portfolio over the years we find ourselves with a range of ultra-premium marques and those SKUs need a different way of selling, using story-telling, exposing consumers to the mastery behind these products.
“We are trying to do this in many markets and the first results are exciting. We care about value as opposed to volume growth alone and we can expose our brands to some very demanding consumers.”
Speaking separately about the group’s travel retail ambitions, Cavagnera said: “Sense of Place is very important to us, and to have this store located 50km from the distillery adds authenticity to how we communicate with travellers. This is what we aim to do across Campari Group: deliver omnichannel experiences to all our consumers across the geographies we operate in.
“Travel retail is key to that. It offers probably the highest possible level of channel integration and can help lead and develop our brand strategies across the portfolio.
“For travel retail, 2023 is the year when we should be getting back above pre-pandemic levels. In fact we are increasing our forecasts month by month and we are seeing growth ahead of expectations.”
On the opportunity to roll out the boutique concept, Cavagnera said: “We will test and learn and see what elements we can replicate at a higher investment scale, so we can do it well in our priority geographies. We will need to see how that works but we have future boutique concepts at a different scale built into our three-year plan.”
Dubau added: “If this is successful then the market will be impressed and our partners will be requesting this concept – the big travel retail clients are constantly looking at what each other does. Global travel retail is a brand-building platform and this is a great opportunity.”
*The Appleton Estate Jamaica Insignia
The Appleton Estate Insignia unites five national Jamaican emblems to tell the story of one evocative world. These emblems include: Blue Mahoe, the national tree of Jamaica that blooms bright with golden flowers; the Jamaica flag; Doctor Birds, hummingbirds that are native to Jamaica and are the country’s national bird; buds of ackee, the vibrantly coloured and subtly sweet Jamaican fruit essential to the national dish; lignum vitae: a tree with powerful medicinal properties that have earned it the name of ‘Wood of Life’.
Appleton Estate timeline 1670 The Estate founder, Francis Dickinson, arrives in Jamaica and names Appleton Estate after his home town in the UK. 1749 Earliest reference to Appleton Estate producing legally recognised rum. 1871 Appleton Estate is purchased by William Hill, after Francis Dickinson descendants decided to sell the Estate. 1900 Hill runs into financial difficulties and has to sell Appleton Estate. Wealthy Kingston entrepreneur, Alexander McDowell Nathan purchases the Estate & its now 56 acres of sugarcane cultivation. 1907 Alexander McDowell Nathan dies in the powerful earthquake that shook Jamaica in January 1907. The plantation’s manager, James Miller Farquharson, takes over the Estate with a huge expansion. 1916 Farquharson dies in 1914 and his younger brother Walter takes over the Estate. In 1916, Appleton Estate is purchased by Cecil Lindo and his brothers, who will also purchase J. Wray & Nephew Ltd. distillers in April of that year. This brought Appleton Estate and J. Wray & Nephew Ltd. under the same corporate roof for the first time, a distinction that endures into the 21st century. 1970 Wray & Nephew Ltd. embarked on a five-year expansion program to modernise the distillery, bottling and blending facilities. 1988 The visitor centre opens at the Appleton Estate. 1997 Joy Spence appointed as the Estate’s Master Blender, the first woman to hold the title. 1999 Appleton Estate celebrates its 250th anniversary. 2012 Campari Group acquires J. Wray & Nephew Ltd. adding Appleton Estate to the Group’s portfolio. 2018 Newly renovated Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience opens.
2023 World first Appleton Estate boutique opens at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay. |
**Watch out for further coverage from our visit to Montego Bay, including more on Campari Group and its travel retail ambitions, and from MBJ Airports and partners (including Express Catering, The Design Solution and others) about the redeveloped departures area at Sangster Airport, and the next phase of commercial plans.
