Moët Hennessy’s art of making the perfect cocktail, sitting at home
Moët Hennessy India, a part of leading French conglomerate LVMH, recently launched the first of its kind limited-edition craft-mixers, in collaboration with homegrown brand, Svami.
- Nov 8, 2021,
- Updated Nov 8, 2021 9:33 PM IST
The pandemic and the resultant lockdowns led to a large number of people experimenting with cooking and bartending at home. “Everyone was trying to replicate the restaurant/bar experience at home. This led to the evolution of a new channel -- ‘home-premise’ with consumers looking to elevate their at-home drinking experience with simple solutions,” says Sophia Sinha, marketing head at the luxury goods company, Moet Hennessy India.
She and her team realised that while everyone wanted to create a great cocktail at home they did not always succeed and even when they did, they couldn’t do it a second time. Consistency was an issue. That’s when they came up with the idea of launching a mixer that complemented their spirits and could allow home bartenders to make the perfect cocktail – just add the mixer to the alcohol and garnish. This led to the launch of the first of its kind limited-edition craft-mixers, in collaboration with homegrown brand, Svami.
Inspired and designed exclusively for the Moët Hennessy portfolio in India, these non-alcoholic mixers have been specially crafted to be paired with Belvedere, Glenmorangie, and Hennessy, aimed at enhancing at-home consumption. Through the launch of these curated mixers, consumers will be able to create cocktails at home in easy steps, while maintaining a consistent taste each time. Consumers can receive a three pack of the limited-edition mixer as a ‘gift with purchase’ with Belvedere Vodka, Glenmorangie Original or Hennessy Very Special, says Sinha.
“It’s taken longer than we had hoped for. I would have liked to launch it a few months before. We did this between the two lockdowns. Getting the right people to taste it, it took longer than it would have otherwise,” says Sinha explaining that samples had to be sent to the Maison in France for approval.
India is undergoing a new cocktail culture. While it is still not as big as in other parts of the world, it is growing in urban centres with bartenders leading from the front. “Today, the ingredients that you put in your cocktails are being questioned by your consumers,” says Sinha. And while earlier at-home cocktailing hardly existed with most people having a drink straight up at home, the pandemic changed that. “What the pandemic has done is made people realise that the home can be a third channel of entertainment, which is where this whole channel that I like to call home premise has popped in. So now you have the retail, then you have your bars and restaurants and you are also hosting these little gatherings at home,” explains Sinha.
Sinha believes the home premise is here to stay, not just in India but also globally. “So keeping the current and the future in mind, it made sense for us to bring the cocktailing to home and therefore we developed these products.”
The quality of bartending in the country has also changed. Earlier you just ordered a drink. Today you have conversations. Over the last five years there has been a rise of the Indian bartender. “We are in the beginning of a mixology explosion in this country. Till five years ago, most cocktail menus only had LIIT, Mojito, Bloody Mary etc. But today bars have a story in their menus and there is a great focus on indigenous ingredients. And that is something that is hugely helping to push the industry forward.”
Sinha says they had to revamp their marketing strategy during the pandemic. “Think about it, an entire channel of operation was shut down. On premises is where the experience happens. At home you will never get the same experience unless the brand takes over a person’s home.” She points out that the way to do it was to create a great experience right from the point when they opened the bottle. “So as part of our marketing strategy we are really pushing this whole ‘at home dining’ experience. We are tying up with a lot of players across the country, where people are hosting these dining experiences and Moet Henessey is partnering with them.”
Another trend that Sinha points is the premiumisation of alcohol. “India is premiumising. Indians are drinking better and starting to drink less. So you are not drinking the sub-premium brands, and volumes of premium brands is going up,” says Sinha. “There has also been a culture shift. The whole thing of alcohol being taboo is gone. The number of women that we are adding to the drinking population is five times that of men. The whole concept of drinking to get drunk is changing. People are now drinking to experience a particular drink, to experience a moment. So the moment is becoming extremely important. That’s why the volume of consumption is going down in India.”
The mixers are currently available in 8 cities. It is a limited edition pack available till the end of the year.
Also Read: Companies to print 'unit sale price' on the packaged commodities from next year
Also Read: Zomato offers ‘dahi shakkar’ to Paytm on its big day
The pandemic and the resultant lockdowns led to a large number of people experimenting with cooking and bartending at home. “Everyone was trying to replicate the restaurant/bar experience at home. This led to the evolution of a new channel -- ‘home-premise’ with consumers looking to elevate their at-home drinking experience with simple solutions,” says Sophia Sinha, marketing head at the luxury goods company, Moet Hennessy India.
She and her team realised that while everyone wanted to create a great cocktail at home they did not always succeed and even when they did, they couldn’t do it a second time. Consistency was an issue. That’s when they came up with the idea of launching a mixer that complemented their spirits and could allow home bartenders to make the perfect cocktail – just add the mixer to the alcohol and garnish. This led to the launch of the first of its kind limited-edition craft-mixers, in collaboration with homegrown brand, Svami.
Inspired and designed exclusively for the Moët Hennessy portfolio in India, these non-alcoholic mixers have been specially crafted to be paired with Belvedere, Glenmorangie, and Hennessy, aimed at enhancing at-home consumption. Through the launch of these curated mixers, consumers will be able to create cocktails at home in easy steps, while maintaining a consistent taste each time. Consumers can receive a three pack of the limited-edition mixer as a ‘gift with purchase’ with Belvedere Vodka, Glenmorangie Original or Hennessy Very Special, says Sinha.
“It’s taken longer than we had hoped for. I would have liked to launch it a few months before. We did this between the two lockdowns. Getting the right people to taste it, it took longer than it would have otherwise,” says Sinha explaining that samples had to be sent to the Maison in France for approval.
India is undergoing a new cocktail culture. While it is still not as big as in other parts of the world, it is growing in urban centres with bartenders leading from the front. “Today, the ingredients that you put in your cocktails are being questioned by your consumers,” says Sinha. And while earlier at-home cocktailing hardly existed with most people having a drink straight up at home, the pandemic changed that. “What the pandemic has done is made people realise that the home can be a third channel of entertainment, which is where this whole channel that I like to call home premise has popped in. So now you have the retail, then you have your bars and restaurants and you are also hosting these little gatherings at home,” explains Sinha.
Sinha believes the home premise is here to stay, not just in India but also globally. “So keeping the current and the future in mind, it made sense for us to bring the cocktailing to home and therefore we developed these products.”
The quality of bartending in the country has also changed. Earlier you just ordered a drink. Today you have conversations. Over the last five years there has been a rise of the Indian bartender. “We are in the beginning of a mixology explosion in this country. Till five years ago, most cocktail menus only had LIIT, Mojito, Bloody Mary etc. But today bars have a story in their menus and there is a great focus on indigenous ingredients. And that is something that is hugely helping to push the industry forward.”
Sinha says they had to revamp their marketing strategy during the pandemic. “Think about it, an entire channel of operation was shut down. On premises is where the experience happens. At home you will never get the same experience unless the brand takes over a person’s home.” She points out that the way to do it was to create a great experience right from the point when they opened the bottle. “So as part of our marketing strategy we are really pushing this whole ‘at home dining’ experience. We are tying up with a lot of players across the country, where people are hosting these dining experiences and Moet Henessey is partnering with them.”
Another trend that Sinha points is the premiumisation of alcohol. “India is premiumising. Indians are drinking better and starting to drink less. So you are not drinking the sub-premium brands, and volumes of premium brands is going up,” says Sinha. “There has also been a culture shift. The whole thing of alcohol being taboo is gone. The number of women that we are adding to the drinking population is five times that of men. The whole concept of drinking to get drunk is changing. People are now drinking to experience a particular drink, to experience a moment. So the moment is becoming extremely important. That’s why the volume of consumption is going down in India.”
The mixers are currently available in 8 cities. It is a limited edition pack available till the end of the year.
Also Read: Companies to print 'unit sale price' on the packaged commodities from next year
Also Read: Zomato offers ‘dahi shakkar’ to Paytm on its big day