Another drink?
The Campari Group’s spirit shelf is growing ever-wider after the Italian alcohol giant announced plans to take a 70% stake in Wilderness Trail Distillery, a Kentucky-based whiskey company for $420m.
Campari Group is looking to bolster its bourbon backline with the acquisition, branching out from the aperitif offerings they’ve been known for throughout their 162-year history, as the company seeks its next leg of growth.
Spritzes vs sbagliatos
Despite being founded way back in the 1860s, Campari Group has been remarkably prescient on modern tastes. Aperol has long been the standout tipple among the company's 50+ brands — the distinctive orange aperitif now accounts for over 20% of Campari’s revenue, with sales more than tripling since 2014.
The company, however, may be toasting a different drink from now on. Sales of Campari, the original liqueur named after founder Gaspare Campari, are now also rising and — thanks in part to a viral TikTok trend about a wrongly-made negroni variation known as a ‘sbagliato’ — are likely to continue to do so.
