🤝 Meet Florence Tresarrieu. She’s the CEO of Corby, the Canadian spirit and wine maker behind brands like Absolut, Cottage Springs, and Jameson. We sat down with her to talk about alcohol trends, the truth about Gen Z's drinking habits, and why everyone is suddenly obsessed with St-Germain Spritzes.
What are some of the booze trends that you think are here to stay?
I think it's a bit of a changing landscape at the moment. So many things are changing. If I look at the trends, the big one is what people call moderation. I'm not sure it's actually moderation, I think it's more about being intentional with the way you drink. The younger generation is much more intentional in the way they drink, more choosy about the occasions, what they drink, and care more about premium products. That's really a trend that's here to stay. I wouldn't say people drink less, but they drink better, and they're definitely more intentional.
What’s it been like putting on the CEO hat for the first time?
It's very good. I was saying to some people that I guess it took me a couple of months — maybe four or five months — to get settled into the role. Now I feel that I've reached a bit of a stage where I'm more comfortable, so I understand better what's going on. I understand a bit more people, but I still feel super energetic. So it's been super intense, super good. It's a great job, I think it's a great company, but being a CEO is the first time for me. It's an amazing vantage point. So you see a lot of stuff, and then you connect all the dots, and it's very interesting.
My background is finance, so I've been relying a lot on data, the numbers. And of course you need that, and it's helpful to have that, but I guess it's the trust and the intuition. You don't need all the data, you just need to trust the people.
You came from the world of investment banking. What sparked the shift to the alcohol business?
A couple of things. I spent almost 20 years in investment banking. The industry is great, but it's a bit of a gilded prison, and I was getting a bit bored. I'd gone through the ranks to managing director, which is a very nice position you can have in investment banking, and I was still getting bored.
I was turning 40, so I was wondering, what am I going to be doing with myself? Corby's main shareholder was one of my clients — not a very good client — but this is how the connection was made. I met some of the people there. I met the CEO, and I was quite attracted by the culture. Many of my clients were luxury companies, the likes of LVMH, Kering, Moët Hennessy — so many French companies. So consumer-facing was very much an interest of mine. Understanding consumer trends, consumer science, is something I'm quite keen on, even personally. So I had an interest, but I wasn't saying to myself, I want to work in spirits.
What's a lesson you learned on the floor at J.P. Morgan or Barclays that you've taken with you into the booze business?
I think when you're an investment banker, you need to win the deal. It's super competitive. It's the same in this business. It's the same here at Corby. We need to win the consumer, we need to make sure they choose us, we need to win market share. It's just as competitive — not the same environment — but just as competitive.
I've learned how to create an impact, influence, and win the consumer's trust. I think it makes you a good banker, and I think it makes you good in our industry as well. You want the consumer that's been banking with you to come back to you — you don't want just one trade, you want a repeat trade. It's exactly the same in spirits. I feel that I understand this job because it's a job I've already been doing somewhere else.
How much truth is there to the narrative that young people don’t drink as much?
You hear that people don't socialize anymore or that they don't go out, and some of that is true, to be honest. I don't think they socialize in the same way. There’s more emphasis on experiences like travelling and festivals. Everybody's saying Gen Z doesn't drink as much, or don’t drink at all, but they do. They just don't drink in exactly the same way that past generations have. The format is different. They don't drink as frequently. It's more of an evolution in the way people drink.
How have you seen the types of social occasions around drinking change?
Yes, I think the occasions to gather have changed. You have plenty of options for where to gather now. Back in the day, you had happy hours. That's how you were social. Now, you go to a spin class with your friends. That’s made people a bit more choosy and more premium in the way you drink. Since people are saving for that night when they do drink, they want to have the good stuff.
Corby owns brands like Cottage Springs and Nude, which have become popular products. What do you think is behind this canned cocktail boom?
I think there are many explanations behind the ready to drink (RTD) trend. It's big here in Canada, it's big for us, and I'm convinced RTD is going to stay. The format is right, the convenience is right, the liquid is good, the alcohol content is good as well, and it caters to the versatility of what the consumer wants.
RTD is taking a lot of share from beer. It's more versatile, it's less filling, and you have fewer calories. So less alcohol, but also less sugar, and fewer carbs. People are also craving identity — they want to make their own drink. They want the versatility of options, which is really not the case with wine and beer.
You've lived around the world over the course of your career. Is there a country that you think has the best booze?
It has to be France, no? I think from an alcohol standpoint, it's France because of the wine. Corby’s wines are actually from Australia and New Zealand, and they're very good as well, but I'd have to say France. It's very complete. I think what's very strong there is that it's a very French thing that you drink and you eat, so it's a social occasion — we call that conviviality. It sounds better in French than in English. I think the French are very good at doing that.
I would say each of the countries where I've lived has its own specificities. I look at Canada, for instance, Canadian whisky — I didn't know much about it before moving to Canada, and it's actually very good.
Why is everyone obsessed with spritzes? Does it have anything to do with new drinking habits?
I think it's been a big trend in Europe: the aperitif. We say in our industry that the days are longer and the nights are shorter. People are not going out as late as in the past, so you don't have as many clubs as in the past. They will go to happy hour, then they'll have dinner, and then at night the bar will put the music up a little bit and people will start dancing, but it’s much earlier than my generation. So you need to be able to capture the opportunity when people are drinking, and the aperitif is feeding into that.
I think there's big attention now on sleep. That's something we've noticed since maybe COVID. Nights are shorter, definitely, and days are longer. Even the on-premise venues where you go out are not exactly the same. It's funny actually, at Badlands [in Toronto], I can tell you I made the mistake of going at midnight and it was about to close. I thought for sure it would be open until 3 a.m.
What would be your go-to happy hour cocktail?
I love mezcal, so a mezcalita, which is like a mezcal version of a margarita. That’s my favourite drink.
You just came out with a Tabasco Absolut vodka. What's the process of coming up with a new flavour like that?
Innovation is super key in the industry, and very key for us. I guess the genesis is that we realized through consumer research that people were actually craving more spicy food and cocktails. The rimming that you put on my mezcalita, which I like, is quite spicy actually, so it brings that same energy. We see it, for instance, in Canada as well, with the Caesar, which is quite unique.
It's not a given that it will always work, but mixing Tabasco and Absolut in a bottle is going to be something nice if you do it right. It always starts from consumer science. Social media is amazing — the number of times you go into a bar, people have a drink or something to eat, the first thing they do is take a picture and post it on Instagram or TikTok. So you can gather that information and the trends emerge.
What percentage of a consumer's decision about what to buy comes down to how the can or bottle looks?
I don't think we have any way of knowing that specifically. But I think the presentation of the format and the bottle is quite strong. I think as an industry, we can be quite persuasive — I'm not saying we create the taste for the consumer, but the marketing we do around it, the formats, the display, plays quite a big role in what the consumer is going to choose in the end. A good number of them don't know exactly what they want to buy, so they're quite sensitive to the brand equity, the name they've heard, the shape of the bottle, the colour of the bottle, the offering, the tasting.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
