Celebrating Cachaça
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Celebrating Cachaça An Interview with Steve Luttmann, Founder and President, Leblon Cachaça USA EDITORS’ NOTE Prior to creating europe, for a expecting a rum and Leblon with his Brazilian father-in- latin solution. it tastes very differ- law, Steve Luttmann was Senior Vice it’s been a per- ent. our goal is to President of Marketing at LVMH fect mix in terms get the same recog- Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in New of the economic nition that cognac York from 2002 to 2005. Luttmann’s and cultural got in terms of hav- immersion in the beverage cate- growth. in addition, cachaça is a ing brazilian rum come off the label, especially gory began with a 10-year stint at white spirit, so it has broad mixability since cachaça is the third most-consumed spirit Unilever, where he handled prod- and usage, and the caipirinha is essen- in the world. cachaça was created in 1532 and uct introductions in South America tially a margarita made like a mojito. rum was created in the caribbean 100 years and worked in different divisions of the caipirinha goes great with food, later, so we always joke that if anything, rum the multinational fi rm in the U.S., and it’s not polarizing, so it’s broadly should be called caribbean cachaça and not Brazil, and Austria. It was during Steve Luttmann accepted. vice versa. there was a time when tequila had this period that he was Marketing How have you been able to mexican whiskey on the label. it’s time cachaça Director for Lipton Tea & Beverages. He earned provide a quality spirit while maintaining stood on its own as well. an M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business a reasonable price point? there has been a process initiated in New York in 1992, specializing in Marketing tequila is suffering from an agave short- through the brazilian government and a and International Business. He graduated from age, so we see tequila and margaritas markets group of cachaça producers called ibrac, Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in as our opportunity. cachaça is a value opportu- petitioning the u.s. government regulator in Finance and Economics with Honors in 1987. nity, but within that opportunity, we want to be this area called the ttb. we’ve been success- on the high end and put our stake in the higher ful in getting them to draft a notice of public COMPANY BRIEF Leblon Cachaça was quality segment of that category. rulemaking, which is essentially a resolution created to shine light on Cachaça, the third Has that category grown, and how recognizing cachaça as its own product group most-consumed spirit in the world, and the competitive is the space now? thus allowing the reference to brazilian rum to key ingredient to Brazil’s national drink, the when we started, it was 20,000 cases – it’s come off the label, and requiring all cachaça Caipirinha. Cachaça is made from fresh-pressed now over 100,000 9-liter cases in less than fi ve to be from brazil, and having an appellation cane juice fermented and distilled, and can only years. everyone seems to be jumping in, which control law recognized. come from Brazil. Leblon Cachaça is produced is good news. it seems to be developing long For those who are unfamiliar with the at a distillery in Patos de Minas, in the heart term. it could develop very similar to the tequila product, is Cachaça mainly considered as of Minas Gerais, Brazil’s prized sugar cane re- category with a lot of different entrants, price part of a Caipirinha or is the usage broader? gion. The company (www.leblon.com) combines points, positionings, qualities, and points of it’s a white spirit, so it has a very broad traditional approaches with creative European view on how to make their particular product. usage. it’s highly mixable, it goes real well winemaking techniques, including aging the What are your plans around building with fruit, you can drink it on the rocks, with spirit in XO cognac casks, to create their arti- the distribution channels in the U.S., and tonic, or with a twist of lime. a lot of people sanal Cachaça. where is that distribution today? are doing twists on the classics, so instead of in this space, trends go through the bar- a cosmo, they’ll take out the vodka and put Are you happy with the increased aware- tender and there are very infl uential bars, par- in leblon and call it a sao paolo cosmopoli- ness for the brand and how focused are you ticularly in new york, miami, los angeles, and tan; or they will do a brazilian margarita or a on continuing to build the recognition? san Francisco. we put a lot of focus and edu- leblon martini. when we started in 2005, the awareness cation into those bar and restaurant accounts. You spent your career in executive was as close to zero as possible in terms of we are in every state in the u.s., as well as in roles with some of the leading companies cachaça and caipirinha. but now, the caipirinha western europe and brazil, but we still focus in this space. Did you always know you is already at 30 percent awareness and cachaça on what we call the cultural capitals, which are wanted to build a brand? is at 20, which i’m happy about because those the four markets i mentioned, but also paris, i did. i have always worked on more en- are mainly the front line, the few who reach the london, sao paolo, and rio. we’re also work- trepreneurial projects, either turnarounds or many, both bartenders and bar afi cionados. ing with national accounts, like the china grill from-scratch brands and new products. i kind In 2005, what did you see in the mar- managements and marriotts of the world. of grew out of the big company requirement, ket that made you feel that this would work, Would you give an overview of the and on my 40th birthday, i started leblon. it’s and did you know early on it would have “Legalize Cachaça” campaign you have very diffi cult to do new products and innova- the type of growth it has had? launched and how it is progressing? tions within a corporate environment, particu- yes. the main thing was the growth of the u.s. government currently requires larly the companies that are large and mature. “brand brazil.” the country is becoming promi- that all cachaças include the term “brazilian most innovations, whether in consumer prod- nent in the world, and there has always been a rum” on their labels. however, that creates a lot ucts, technology, or wine and spirits, come desire, particularly in north america and western of consumer confusion. they taste the product from entrepreneurs.• volume 33, number 3 posted with permission. copyright © 2010 leaders magazine, inc. leaders 109.