Campari Group has reported double-digit organic sales growth in the UK, driven by its popular aperitif brand.

The company said the UK grew by +13.7%, despite a tough comparison base (+39.1% in FY21), mainly driven by “continued positive momentum of core Aperol and Magnum Tonic, despite product availability constraints of the latter”.

Aperol saw a +20.9% organic sales increase in the UK, while the market was also cited as a contributor to the growth of the Jamaican rum portfolio – up +15.5%, largely thanks to Jamaica, the UK, Mexico and New Zealand, the company said.  

Overall, Campari Group recorded a +24.2% lift in net sales to almost EUR2.7 billion, on a reported basis (+16.4% in organic terms).

Campari Group CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz said: “In a challenging 2022, we continued to make solid progress in pursuing our long-term growth strategy focusing on sustainable brand building as well as portfolio enhancement via attractive acquisitions. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, our net sales grew by 40% organically thanks to strong brand health, pricing as well as enhanced commercial capabilities driving strong consumer demand.”

Looking ahead into 2023, the CEO said the company remains confident in the positive business momentum across key brands and markets, owing to “strong brand equity, in particular aperitifs”.

“We will continue to leverage adequate price opportunities in specialties as well as portfolio premiumisation in brown spirits,” he added. “The overall macro environment for inflation remains challenging despite some signs of easing; nevertheless, we remain confident to preserve the current operating margin on sales at the organic level.”

Looking at the medium term, Kunze-Concewitz said Campari Group can “continue delivering strong organic topline growth and mix improvement leading to margin expansion”. He added that to satisfy future demand, the group is accelerating investments in supply chain with the aim to double overall production capacity in key aperitifs, bourbon and tequila.