Havana Club - Bacardi v Pernod Ricard

[Ken Gargett]

interesting article. especially the bacardi statement at the end. mind you, i think that they might have fudged things a smidge. my understanding was not that the family was exiled, rather that they took whatever the could and fled. i suspect that neither side are angels and neither side is telling, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

i do think that it is a bit rich to have a 'forever cuban' campaign, with 'made in PR' as a footnote.

 

Bacardi hits back at Pernod over ‘misleading’ Forever Cuban campaign

10th January, 2018 by Lauren Eads

Bacardi has defended its most recent Havana Club ‘Forever Cuban’ campaign after rival Pernod Ricard claimed it was “misleading” given that its rum is made in Puerto Rico, as a long-running battle between the two over the Havana Club trademark rumbles on.

The two groups have been battling over the trademark of Havana Club for decades, with both companies fiercely defending their claim on the brand.

Pernod Ricard owns the international rights to the Cuba-made Havana Club brand outside of the US due to the country’s ban on Cuban imports, which has been in place since 1961 when the Cuban revolution led to communism. The French drinks group owns the Havana Club brand in partnership with Cubaexport – an agency under the Cuban government.

Bacardi meanwhile has been selling its own brand of Havana Club rum, made in Puerto Rico, in the US since the mid-1990s. The group acquired the US rights from Havana Club’s original founders, the Arechabala family, who had fled Cuba in the 1960s after their company’s assets were seized by their country’s government.

However, in February 2016, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) renewed the trademark of Pernod Ricard’s Havana Club brand in the US for the next 10 years, sparkling a legal challenge from Bacardi over the trademark in that market. Despite the renewal, Pernod and Cubaexport are still unable to launch the Havana Club brand in the US due the ongoing ban on imports between the US and Cuba.

FOREVER CUBAN

The feud was intensified following the launch of Bacardi’s ‘Forever Cuban’ campaign for its Havana Club rum in the US late last year, with Pernod Ricard accusing the Puerto Rican-based rum producer of including “misleading statements” stating: “Havana Club International stands firm and clear about the authenticity of its rum portfolio – which includes white and dark aged rums that are exclusively and wholly produced in Cuba.

“Havana Club rums are distributed globally except in the USA, due to the ongoing trade embargo. The Forever Cuban campaign, recently launched by Bacardi to promote its Puerto Rican rum products in the USA under the name Havana Club Rum, contains a number of misleading statements, the most obvious being a false claim to be the original Havana Club rum.

“The real Havana Club rum, produced through a joint venture between Cuba Ron S.A. and Pernod Ricard, is crafted in Cuba, from cane to glass, using the knowledge and expertise passed down from generation to generation of Maestros del Ron Cubano. As such, it is a 100% authentic Cuban rum.

“We are monitoring the campaign and are committed to our long-term goal of selling our family of authentic and genuine Havana Club Cuban rums in all countries around the world.”

The “Forever Cuban” campaign features Cuban-American actor, Raul Esparza, reciting “Island Body,” a poem written exclusively for the campaign by Cuban-American poet and author, Richard Blanco. It draws on the experiences of Cuban exiles and includes the tagline “forged from home, aged in exile, forever Cuban”.

‘STOLEN TRADEMARK’

This week, Bacardi defended itself against claims that its campaign is “misleading” accusing Pernod of having profited, along with the Cuban government, from a “stolen trademark”.

“Pernod Ricard and the Cuban dictatorship have perpetuated a lie since they began their collusion in 1993, and continue to do so today,” it read. “Since Pernod will not share the true story of Havana Club Rum with their consumers (and with the world), we will.

“In 1959, Cuba’s communist revolutionaries confiscated and nationalized the Havana Club distillery and exiled the Arechebala family, who created Havana Club in 1934. While the revolutionaries seized the distillery and trademark by force, they could not steal the recipe or the expertise that it took to produce Havana Club. That expertise left Cuba with the Arechebala family when they were exiled from their homeland. In 1994, Ramon Arechebala passed the Havana Club recipe and production techniques to the Bacardi Family – who are also Cuban exiles – so that they could preserve the legacy and allow the brand to live on.

“Cuba’s revolutionaries confiscated and nationalized many family businesses. They imprisoned those who resisted, and tortured those who opposed them. But they did not know how to produce or distribute rum. In 1993, the Cuban regime found a willing partner to help them profit from their stolen trademark –  French liquor conglomerate Pernod Ricard. Since then, the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard have generated millions of dollars by selling an imposter rum poured into a bottle and marketed under a stolen name.

“Unlike Pernod Ricard, the Bacardi and Arechebala families are not misleading consumers. Our Havana Club Rum is now proudly made in Puerto Rico. It is based on the original recipe and techniques that were used by the Arechebalas to make Havana Club in Cuba prior to the Cuban revolution. Our new marketing campaign affirms that, while our rum is now made in Puerto Rico, our heart and soul will be ‘Forever Cuban.’

“This is the story of Havana Club – this is our story. If Pernod Ricard wishes to tell their story, we are listening…”

[Jeremy Festa]

Thanks for sharing. 

Very interesting.

A classy finish. 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

A friend of mine is friends with the Bacardi family and they were trying to get her to marry the son and I think heir to Bacardi...  For whatever reason she wasn't into him and is with someone else.

I had a Cuban bottle of Bacardi white before.  Decades in a bottle just made it less fresh; more novelty than anything else.  

Personally, I do not think Bacardi or Havana Club are that good of rum considering all the brands and price points out there.  You get a lot for your money in rum compared to other spirits.

[Islandboy]

Never really considered Bacardi a player when it comes to sipping rums, but our local Costco brought these in over the holidays, and I have to say it was damn good.

[99call]

Ultimately a product is a stand alone entity. if there is something real or noble in the production of that said entity, then I guess it does allow the consumer the ability to daydream and romance about things like terroir, family history, DOP etc etc.   What does sour things is when someone tries sell you something back to front. ie, this is good because my forefathers made it in the local well????          Cut the BS.       Cuban or Puerto Rican it's either a good rum or not.   My sneaking suspicion is that it's poor quality, and there are now a million and one small outfits making small batch rum, thats probably twice the quality and the same price point.

They need to stop spending so much money quibbling about the past, and actually put that advertising money into people and product.

[Martin_F]

At the end of the day, what matters to me is the product.

If you compare the rum from Puerto Rico to the one from Cuba, you can only do that with two as there are only two offerings from Bacardi,

you'll quickly notice that there isn't really any competition going on.

Maybe years down the road, when Bacardi can release a 15 year old "Havana Club" that will change, but for now it's really a non issue.

And at $20 a bottle for the Bacardi Havana Club, you can do a lot better with a mixing rum from any other player in the rum market.