Sustainability Report: Anora Group
Interview: Telling Koskenkorva’s proactive pro-planet story in travel retail
We speak to Anora Group Duty Free & Travel Retail Director Bo Madsen about the role travel retail is playing in the Koskenkorva Vodka global growth story. By Dermot Davitt.
Anora Group continues to build on its vision to make Koskenkorva Vodka a globally recognised brand, with a strong emphasis on targeting environmentally conscious consumers through travel retail.
The company has long underlined the sustainability credentials of Koskenkorva, Finland’s biggest-selling spirit.
Anora Group is pressing on with its mission to have the distillery’s products recognised as the most sustainable in the world.
The distillery – around 255km from Helsinki – runs mostly on bioenergy generated by its own power plant. It uses 100% of every single barley grain – what cannot be used for vodka goes into making animal feed and barley starch. The rest is used as fuel to run the bioenergy power plant.
Broadly with its production agenda, the company is heavily focused on fossil emission reductions and water usage. It is committed to science-based emission reduction targets and aiming for carbon-neutral production in 2030 – without any carbon offsets (at the distillery this target should be delivered by 2026).
Koskenkorva Climate Action Vodka: This vodka expression is produced entirely from barley grown via regenerative farming methods
Koskenkorva Vodka on display at Helsinki Airport with Avolta and Finavia
Speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report about the progress of Koskenkorva Vodka in travel retail, Anora Group Duty Free & Travel Retail Director Bo Madsen says: “As we still are in the early stages of globalising Koskenkorva Vodka, taking it from a leading position in the Nordics to the world, our focus has been on showcasing the brand and its heritage, being very honest and transparent about who we are, how it is produced and what Koskenkorva Vodka stands for.
“We have had great partnerships with several key publications; we have showcased the brand not only in travel retail-relevant fairs but also in other B2B and consumer forums. Besides that, naturally we focus on the commercial partnerships, securing a relevant positioning in the global market and mapping out relevant focus areas as well as route-to-market strategies.
“We experience a nice growth outside our ‘Nordic core’ and believe doing the homework is paying off. It is not something that is done overnight, it is a long-term growth plan we are following.”
Environmentally friendly regenerative farming methods are being widely adopted by Anora Group’s barley suppliers
Addressing the strategic role of the channel, Madsen says: “Often travel retail only has consumers for a short moment as they are travelling through, but it is a channel in which we can stage and showcase the brand in a setting, mirroring the attributes of Koskenkorva Vodka.
“The channel has strategic importance for Anora, and together with our domestic expansion teams we aim to maximise brand presence and footprint. It is expensive to expand and grow your footprint, but that it is the long-term plan in tandem with several Anora business units working together towards the same goal.”
Koskenkorva has a clear identity that allows it, critically, to stand out from other brands in the market, he adds.
“It's not breaking news that consumers are increasingly climate-conscious...While many brands merely pay lip service to sustainable actions, Koskenkorva is setting a commendable example by taking proactive steps.”
– Anora Global Travel Retail Director Bo Madsen (pictured)
“This is a crowded category. With Koskenkorva we develop our products and communications keeping our consumers in the centre and build everything around them. Koskenkorva Vodka and our Climate Action variant are the flagships of the brand, where we focus on staging it to showcase our key attributes such as authenticity, quality and sustainability. Wherever possible, we try to support this with our range of top-quality vodka liqueurs, which are becoming increasingly popular.
“In terms of consumers, unlike many vodka brands we target more mature consumers – not necessarily in terms of age, but more in their state of mind. Consumers who are not intrigued by all the ‘bling bling’ we often see in this category, but who want to make sustainable choices – and consumers who support transparency and quality.”
Madsen also assesses the path to further progress, and speaks about the keys ‘asks’ the brand owner has of its retailer partners.
Anora Group’s longer-term ambition is that by 2030 it will be using 30% regeneratively farmed barley in its vodka products, led by the Koskenkorva Distillery
“Success is also related to patience – following the set plan with hopefully only smaller adjustments on the way. We know we will not conquer the world all at once – as with all good things in life, it takes time. Travel retail channel is important for us both as a visibility platform but also as a channel where we need to be profitable, enabling us to invest in our future growth.
“We see more and more retailers dedicating attention and space to sustainability. We need to prove to them that sales and profits for the retailers can go hand-in-hand with sustainable initiatives. My wish is that more retailers will be open to talking about how we can help drive one another’s agenda, how both parties can evolve to create the most relevant offerings and create a win-win situation.”
And Anora is backing its sustainability strategy with marketing investment in the trade, as well as with new product development.
Madsen says: “For the Koskenkorva brand in terms of activations, we continue on the same path but with even more focus on better explaining our regenerative farming methods, and how these really can make a huge difference – not only for us, but for change in production methods that benefit the environment.”
New products that diversify the offer in 2024 include a Strawberry Vodka Liqueur plus a Caipiroska variant with a focus on the Americas.
In other categories, Anora is launching a 100cl version of its Skagerrak Gin, which was developed (initially as a 50cl bottling) in collaboration with top bartenders in the countries surrounding the Skagerrak Sea – Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Finally, we ask, is there room for the travel retail industry to improve its messaging around sustainability?
Madsen replies with an emphatic “yes”.
“Due to the nature of our sector, in many consumers’ minds travelling is still far from being sustainable, and we are witnessing more and more environmental taxes and restrictions on the travel industry.
“The sector needs to work on all aspects to improve this. We must take responsibility within this segment, but all actors need to be more vocal about the great initiatives that are being taken and avoid any kind of ‘greenwashing’, which will just damage the reputation of a serious, responsible sector.”
In this regard, as in others, Koskenkorva has already taken a strong lead for others to follow.
Partner’s message
The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 334 | 12 May 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com