Rémy Cointreau is a French, family-owned business group specialized in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The group's products include cognac (Rémy Martin, Louis XIII), triple sec (Cointreau), the Greek spirit Metaxa, rum (Mount Gay), brandy (St-Rémy), gin (The Botanist) and whisky (Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, Westland, Domaine des Hautes Alpes). The group, whose origins date back to 1724, was formed in 1990 after the merger of Rémy Martin and Cointreau. Rémy Cointreau also owns the fragrance company Maison Psyché.
History
The cognac company Rémy Martin was created in 1724. It started international exports the following century and created the high-end cognac brand Louis XIII in 1874. Rémy Martin was bought in 1924 by André Renaud and launched the cognac brand VSOP Fine Champagne in 1927.[2][3] In 1965, André Hériard Dubreuil (stepson of André Renaud) took over the direction of the company. He switched the group's focus on luxury brands, modernized its marketing, and developed its own international distribution network.[4] During the 1980s, the group acquired Charles Heidsieck (1985), Piper-Heidsieck (1988), Mount Gay Rum (1989), and created the brand Passoã (1986).[3] A joint-venture was launched in China to create the Dynasty Fine Wines Group,[5] and another one in California to create Rémy Martin Schramsberg, the first Californian distillery since the Prohibition.[6]
The Rémy Cointreau Group is a result of a 1990 merger between E. Rémy Martin & Cie SA and Cointreau & Cie SA, respectively.[7] During the 1990s, the group divested a few brands including the champagne Krug.[8] Rémy Cointreau created the international distribution network (outside the USA) Maxxium in 1999 with Highland and Jim Beam Brands[9] and acquired the Bols group (Bols, Metaxa, Curaçao, Asbach Uralt) in 2000.[10] The group left Maxxium in 2009 to create its own international distribution network.[11] In 2011, it sold the champagnes Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck to French luxury goods group EPI for 422 million euros.[12]
Rémy Cointreau acquired the Bruichladdich Distillery Company (Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, Octomore, The Botanist - B Corp certification in 2020) in 2012,[13] The Westland Distillery (USA)[14] and the Domaine des Hautes Glaces (Alps, France) in 2017,[15] and the cognac J.R. Brillet[16] and the champagne Telmont in 2020,[17] and divested Passoã the same year.[18] In 2022, Rémy Cointreau created the fragrance company Maison Psyché, which uses spirits' aging methods to create high-end perfumes.[19]
Description
Rémy Cointreau is a French business group specialized in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The group is based in Cognac, France. Its main shareholder is the Hériard Dubreuil family. It is indexed in the Euronext Paris as a CAC Next 20 component.
