Campari Group has posted sales up 16% on an organic basis to €2.7 billion ($2.9b) for its fiscal year ended in December, as adjusted EBIT increased 19% to €570 million ($607m).

The company noted that its business is now up by about 40% organically compared with pre-pandemic.In the U.S., Campari’s largest market, the group saw sales rise by 14% for the year, propelled by the “continued positive momentum in the on-premise and resilient home consumption.” The strong growth was driven by double-digit gains for Espolòn, core Wild Turkey Bourbon, Russell’s Reserve, Aperol, and Campari, which saw ongoing robust consumer demand even as prices increased. Shipments of Grand Marnier were slightly down (against a tough comp of +44.6%) due to continuing glass supply constraints, Campari said, while Skyy also declined.

According to Impact Databank, Espolòn crossed 1.1 million cases in the U.S. last year on 13% growth, while Wild Turkey rose 7% to just under 900,000 cases. Other key brands on the rise included Aperol (+28% to 390,000 cases), Campari (+16% to 227,000 cases), Russell’s Reserve (+15% to 84,000 cases), and Frangelico (+9% to 76,000 cases). Skyy continued to be a drag on results in the vodka category, however, falling below 2 million cases.

“Looking ahead into 2023, we remain confident about the positive business momentum across key brands and markets thanks to strong brand equity, in particular aperitifs,” said Campari chief executive Bob Kunze-Concewitz. “We will continue to leverage adequate price opportunities in specialties as well as portfolio premiumization in brown spirits. The overall macro environment for inflation remains challenging despite some signs of easing; nevertheless, we remain confident to preserve the current operating margin on sales at the organic level.” For the future, Kunze-Concewitz added that, “to satisfy future demand, we are accelerating our investments in supply chain with the aim to double our overall production capacity in key aperitifs, bourbon and tequila categories.”—Daniel Marsteller

Campari America—Top 12 Brands (thousands of 9-liter case depletions)
Brand	Origin/Type	2021	2022	Percent Change1
Skyy	American Vodka	2,150	1,850	-14.0%
Espolòn	Tequila	979	1,110	13.4%
Wild Turkey	Bourbon/Rye	835	891	6.7%
Grand Marnier	Imported Liqueur	625	624	-0.2%
Wild Turkey American Honey	Flavored Whiskey	490	485	-1.0%
Aperol	Imported Liqueur	305	390	27.9%
Campari	Imported Liqueur	196	227	16.1%
J Wray Overproof	Imported Rum	150	145	-3.3%
Appleton	Imported Rum	105	101	-3.8%
Russell’s	Bourbon	73	84	15.1%
Cabo Wabo	Tequila	81	80	-1.2%
Frangelico	Imported Liqueur	70	76	8.6%
Total Top 12		6,059	6,063	0.1%
1 Based on unrounded data. Source: IMPACT DATABANK © 2023