Eric Gilbert, the international director of the Hennessy cognac brand (Photo: Reuven Castro)
I meet Eric Gilbert, the international director of the Hennessy cognac brand, after a night of non-stop entertainment in the city.
"I was here twenty years ago," he says, "and Tel Aviv is amazing, it has a great nightlife."
In his current position as number 2 in the leading global brand, he has been in place since last July, but worked in various positions at the LVMH corporation (Louis Vuitton, Moët & Hennessy, the French corporation whose owner, Bernard Arnault, overtook Elon Musk in the ranking of the richest people in the world) for many years.
Now he came to Israel a second time, this time by virtue of his position, to promote interesting collaborations in the Israeli market.
What is the charm of Tel Aviv in your eyes?
"Night life and the quality of the restaurants. In the end, Hennessy is a brand that revolves around quality, culture, food, music. And if I tell someone food, music, culture, and nightlife, they will immediately think of Tel Aviv. This is also true of Jamaica And also regarding Singapore - which is why we are also looking forward to Korea, to Seoul. We want to deepen our relationship with these central cities, where there is good music, food and nightlife."
"Hennessy can be successful in almost all countries of the world" says Gilbert, "and every time I visit a country I see the passion that the brand has. It is not easy to invest in every country, but it is important to find countries that are really influential and Israel is a part of them. So we want to be bigger , among other things, also here."
How to keep the tradition without ceasing to renew?
Hennessy Cognac (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Hennessy, for those who do not know, is one of the most famous and oldest cognac brands in the world, it was founded in 1765 and is still considered synonymous with luxury, refinement and taste.
One of the things that makes Hennessy unique is the fact that it is basically a family business for everything that is passed down through the generations and the family spirit has remained part of the company's DNA, even though in 1987 it was purchased by the global Louis Vuitton company (the cognac, which is responsible for the H in the name The corporation LVMH, is marketed in Israel - together with the champagne known in our places as Moet-Chandeau, which is responsible for M, by the central beverage company CBC).
"It's amazing to always find someone who is connected to the family history of the brand in some way, and even exciting" says Gilbert.
"When I meet with distributors around the world, I always find someone who says to me, 'You know my grandfather worked in front of Hennessy.' Israel We want to be relevant to the local market as well and make the necessary adjustments."
How do we do that?
"We try to understand the people, the consumers, how they prefer to drink our product. We tend to work over the years with a lot of local artists, to give back to the local communities. In China, for example, we work with local Chinese artists. We know that Chinese people like to drink our product during The meals, so it's also important for us to understand what they eat, how they drink, we hold events in the local communities, and thus both learn about the preferences and give back to the local community with interesting collaborations."
In an era where innovation is the name of the game, what keeps the brand relevant and current for so many years?
"We always think long-term. The brand was created 258 years ago, and when we work on our plans for the future, we proceed with the mindset that we are going to be here for the next 300 years. This is our main motto, of course, along with the quality that we make sure to preserve over the years."
"Just to give you an example of how it actually happens," adds Gilbert, "when I sit down with the master distiller we try to think about how things will look in 30 years. Of course we don't know what's going to happen in thirty years, but we kind of try to aim there as well ".
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"When I sit with the master distiller we try to think about how things will look in 30 years."
Gilbert proves that cognac is also good for cocktails (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Cognac and graffiti
Hennessy has a long history of collaborations with artists and designers to create unique and limited edition products.
Particularly successful was the collaboration with the graffiti artist Shepard Fairey, who was responsible for the design of the collector's bottle.
In 2021, a successful collaboration was registered with Maluma, the star of Latin music, a collaboration that also included a series of virtual events and content, including a behind-the-scenes look at Maluma's creative process and a virtual performance.
The musician joined a long list of parties that cooperate with Hennessy, which allowed the brand to present the products in unique and creative ways, while promoting the work of talented artists and reaching a wider audience, which also includes young people.
"Our connection to artists has always been very natural," says Gilbert, "we do it very well, and know how to create special collector's editions that receive a lot of interest. We have had very successful collaborations with street artists, not long ago we worked with an artist from South Africa, and recently we created an edition limited with a very famous Chinese artist".
Your commercial videos are also always very artistic and creative
"We love artistic films. We made a fantastic film with Ridley Scott. I can't tell you everything, but I will only hint to the readers in Israel that very soon there will be a very big collaboration with a famous American artist".
Speaking of a nod to the younger generation, the Tik Tok generation, how do you speak to the younger generation which is a large and significant market?
"Your question is interesting, because the perception of cognac as a drink of a certain age depends on place. In some countries, for example, cognac is seen as a drink for older people, while in other countries it is a drink for young people, which stars in all the most famous cocktails. In the US, for example, Hennessy is seen as the king of cocktails, and
it What I like about Cognac Hennessy, that it is relevant in different ways depending on the place, and varies from place to place.
If in the US it is the king of the night life, in China it is mainly drunk during meals, so we have a wide variety that is suitable for a wide audience. We try to explain the entire variety to consumers, we have cognac for any time of the day, or any time in life. That is our message."
"If you buy half a bottle of VS for $20, or a very old barrel for a million dollars, you have the same brand, the same quality and the same taste" (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Dean Peretta
One of the wonderful things in my opinion, adds Gilbert, is the wide variety and accessibility, and this is another layer in the intergenerational connection that the brand continues.
"Our variety is very important, it makes me proud that if you buy half a bottle of VS for 20 dollars, or a very old barrel for a million dollars, you have in your hand the same brand, the same quality and the same taste."
Your bottle is iconic, several changes have been made to it over the years, but the care is still taken for a bottle that consumers can easily recognize
"The truth is that when we make changes, we try to make them minor. If we make too radical changes to the bottles we even receive letters and phone calls from our consumers who like the classic bottles. In addition, it is important for us to remain relevant, maintain the iconicity and be up to date with innovation. In the end, our bottles can be recognized even in the dark. That's part of the point."
Many companies in the world have internalized that part of their marketing agenda must be based on sustainability, corporate responsibility, etc., and this is certainly important as part of a strategy that also appeals to a young audience for whom these things are important
.
We were the first brand among the alcoholic beverage brands to receive ISO certification in 1988. And it was mainly in the field of saving water, energy.
Even today, especially in recent years, we are giving a more significant push when it comes to protecting the environment.
Among other things, we also encourage our growers to use environmentally friendly products."
In 2022, the brand received the "Sustainable Distillery of the Year" award from the International Wine and Spirit Competition. This recognition comes after years of efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their production process , including the use of renewable energy sources and the implementation of water saving measures.
Gilbert points out that Hennessy has a clear ambition to cut their carbon footprint in half, and they even have an idea to start moving their goods to overseas markets by sailboat, which would reduce their transportation carbon footprint by 80%.
"It's a challenge, but it's part of the agenda. We spend a lot of money to reforest different places in the world, we want to have 50,000 dunams planted with trees everywhere in the world."
In Israel they would say this is a 'piece of investment'
"So just for example, on reforestation, we're going to spend 100 million euros, over ten years just to replant this 50,000 dunams. It's not a question of money. It's a question of commitment to do it. So, for example, in Kenya, In Tanzania, in China, we are replanting a lot of forests, and in ten years I can tell you that we are reducing our carbon footprint by 50%."
Sustainability concerns everything from refining to packaging.
We make sure, for example, that whenever we sell bottles to restaurants and bars, there is no packaging.
This is a small, concrete example of how we are constantly trying to improve."
"In recent years we have been making a more significant push when it comes to protecting the environment" (Photo: Reuven Castro)
How to maintain a constant taste in an era of climate change
You've never entered the so-called "flavor game
" right, because it won't be cognac anymore, and we can't do that either. Recently in the United States I met a large retailer who asked me, 'So when are you producing a special flavor?' I told him no, because It's just not cognac. Even if you ask me next year, I'll give you the same answer."
Speaking of climate change, cold spells and heat waves change the produce every year, how do you ensure that the taste does not change over the years
"The blend is always the same in taste, the path to taste sometimes goes through many attempts because of all the reasons you mentioned. The strategy is of course to give a uniform product whose taste does not change in quality The highest. And certainly climate change is something that needs to be dealt with.
It's warmer in February, so ripening actually starts earlier, and if there are sometimes frost waves in April, it can have a big impact.
And sometimes you have to move the vineyards a hundred meters here, a hundred meters there.
We are not without challenges.
But what I can tell you for sure is that in 15 years and in 100 years we will still be making cognac in cognac, because this is our passion."
Of money
Tags
Hennessey
Louis Vuitton
alcohol