World renowned mixologists gather for the Marie Brizard Masters

Thirty of the world’s elite mixologists gathered at the Mama Shelter Hotel in Bordeaux last month to compete for the 2016 Marie Brizard Masters L’Orange title.  The funky, hip backdrop for this year’s event is just one example of the company’s new bold, energetic and dynamic focus which, without forsaking its rich heritage, is driving the popularity of cocktails worldwide and reinforcing the importance of the Marie Brizard portfolio as key to any restaurant and bar drinks menu. 

It’s a message that MBWS's International Travel Retail Director, Kevin Baker, believes travel retailers should take note of. “This is the 33^rd year of the Marie Brizard Masters, ‘ he says (indeed the company was one of the first to create bar tender awards), ‘and this year has been more international than ever with finalists attending from all over the world – all five continents in fact from Canada, to China to Croatia; Mauritius to Macedonia to Martinique. It’s representative of the massive investment Marie Brizard is making globally in order to move its brands to front of shelf.

“The cocktail revolution, that in the past has been very Americas and Europe based, is now global and consumers of all nationalities are being exposed to Marie Brizard liqueurs, essences and syrups in bars from Spain to Sri Lanka, the UAE to the USA.  That show-casing – like travel retail – is a brilliant opportunity to engage directly with consumers and motivate them to purchase.”

Baker strongly believes that events such as the Marie Brizard Masters provide inspiration for travel retail activations. “The passion and vibrancy that is evident as bartenders from all over the world come together to show their creativity in combining Marie Brizard’s liqueurs and essences with new and unusual ingredients is unbelievably exciting and is something we are translating into an engaging airport activations concept,” he continues. “It’s a perfect environment to continue to showcasing to consumers – from the bar where they experienced a Marie Crusta or Marie Zest in Hong Kong, perhaps, into the airport from which they are departing for home and looking for ‘memories’ to purchase.”

The activation concept follows the relaunch of the Marie Brizard portfolio at TFWA World Exhibition last October with a modern interpretation of the original Anisette bottle. With a wide and diverse portfolio of some 145 products, Baker will focus on the five hero lines for travel retail: Anisette, Parfait Amour, Apry, Jolie Cherry and Cacao Chouao, all of which are being promoted as central elements of drinks rather than additional ingredients. 

MARIE BRIZARD MASTERS L’ORANGE 2016

Over two days of intense mixing, blind tasting, sensorial testing and knowledge quizzes, the 30 contestants – all of whom had won regional finals – were whittled down to 8 semi-finalists who had to create an original cocktail from a mystery box of ingredients including cardamom, carrot and chick-pea syrup.   The four finalists then presented their cocktails to an audience of 150 at Chateau Labottiere, Bordeaux, the extraordinary cultural centre that combines 18^th century style with contemporary art – a perfect expression of the Marie Brizard strategy.

Alongside the testing, participants were treated to a morning of fun and educational workshops that covered Marie Brizard’s leadership of flavour creation from the citrus family and its importance in cocktails, food and cocktail pairing, and the history of Marie Brizard.

The overall winner was Piotr Sajdak from Salut Bar in Berlin. Piotr will work with Marie Brizard to develop a completely new liqueur for launch in 2017.

The overall winner was Piotr Sajdak from Salut Bar in Berlin.

Piotr will work with Marie Brizard to develop a completely new liqueur for launch in 2017.

“Not only does this give Piotr a huge amount of kudos, but I can see the resulting new product as also having potential for travel retail as consumers seek to find products that are new, innovative and have a real story behind them,” continues Baker.

“We’re still developing the final template for the activation proposal but all the elements are there and this year’s Masters event just further underlines the potential for me,’” continues Baker. “Why? Because this year we have seen entries from all over the world including Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, where the cocktail culture has truly exploded over the past decade and – as we all know – Asia is where the long-term travel retail growth is. Consumers often think cocktails are complicated, but they are not. They can be made very quickly and very easily – with just 3 ingredients in many cases; if we show that to the travelling consumer by creating theatre in the airport, we can engage directly with them to position Marie Brizard as a mainstream liquor brand, not merely a cocktail ingredient – as important as that continues to be.”