Campari to generate half its growth from further acquisitions

Campari Group CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz says acquisitions are key to driving profit for the company.

"We expect to generate half our growth from M&A," he told CNBC.

Campari has already "done 28 deals so far", with Kunze-Concewitz spearheading 14 of them.

"When you look at the top 10 drinks companies in the world they only represent about 15% of volumes, so there are still a lot of brands out there that are family owned," he noted.

In the last three years alone, the company has acquired Bisquit cognac, Bulldog gin, Grand Marnier, Fratelli Averna and Forty Creek Distillery 2014

Kunze-Concewitz said Aperol was a great example of a regional Italian brand that the company had nutured to become an international phenomenon.

Aperol was created by the Barbieri brothers in Padua, Italy in 1919 and was originally marketed as a drink “for women and sportive people” to help them stay lean and fit. 

Campari bought Aperol in 2003 and the brand has consistently achieved double-digit growth ever since. Its global sales rose 24.7% in the first half of 2018.

Kunze-Concewitz recently told Reuters that per-capita consumption of Aperol in its core markets of Italy and Austria was still 100 times greater than in the United States.

“This gives us an indication of the room for growth,” he said.

While Kunze-Concewitz didn't give any hints about the next acquisition in his sights, he noted to Just-Drinks that he doesn't see the company entering the cannabis market any time soon.