What is typically Brazilian? Rio's beaches, Pelé, Brasília's
architecture, Carmen Miranda, Romário's soccer style, Xuxa and, without a
doubt, cachaça. Cachaça, an alcoholic beverage made from distilled
sugar cane juice, is one of the most consumed drinks in Brazil, second
only to beer.
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Folklore has it that cachaça was conceived and originally consumed
around 400 years ago by slaves who started to drink the liquid that
fermented out of the sugar cane plantations. Plantation owners began to
serve this liquid to their slaves after noticing its positive effects,
such as increased vigor, experienced by the slaves who consumed it.
According to the Brazilian Association of Spirits (ABRABE), Brazil has
4,000 brands of cachaça and the country produces 1 billion liters of the
beverage per year. During the last decade cachaça has also gained
popularity on an international level. The product is exported to the
United States, Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, and several other
countries. Exports in 1994 totaled $3.5 million and surpassed
exports in 1992 by 33%.
Export markets prefer smaller (unknown) brands instead of domestically
popular brands. Nega Fulô, for example, one of the favorite cachaças
overseas, exported $1.4 million in 1993.
The renewed popularity of the product has given rise to pirate
activity. There are so many illegal versions selling on the streets of
Brazil, that Havana, a popular brand made in the north of Minas Gerais, is about
to call it quits. Havana is considered to be one of the best
cachaças in Brazil. A large part of Havana's appeal is the fact
that it is very rare, due to the limited annual production of 600 thousand
liters. Havana's proprietor's intention to stop production is due not only to
illegal versions, but also to the high taxes imposed on alcohol.
Cachaça is no longer stigmatized as the
drink-of-the-poor-masses. The alcoholic beverage now appeals to a
trendy, young and upper-class clientele. It is possible to order
various cachaça drinks in any of several fashionable Brazilian bars and
nightclubs. Some of these concoctions are the Caipitetra (orange, honey, mint
and cachaça) and the Granada Brasileira (passion fruit, cream, sugar and
cachaça). Nevertheless, cachaça does continue to be
purchased by the lower classes, basically due to the potent combination of high
alcoholic content and a cheap price.
The English magazine Drinks International ranks cachaça
(primarily the brand Pirassununga 51) among the five most consumed distilled
liquors in the world. Pirassununga 51 is produced in Pirassununga in the
state of São Paulo. Pirassununga sold 206 million liters in 1993, and 200
million liters in 1994, whereas the world-wide rum producer Bacardi sold
180 million liters in 1993. A large portion of cachaça sales are
made to Brazilians who consume, on average, two billion liters of cachaça
per year, what translates into 13 liters for each man, woman and child in the
country.
Brazil's metropolitan state of São Paulo is the heart of the production,
distribution and consumption of cachaça. Two brands, Caninha 51
and Velho Barreiro, dominate the market share of this southern state.
Caninha 51 has 27.7% of the national market share whereas Velho Barreiro is
slightly lower at 10%.
During 1994, approximately $89 million was spent on advertisement by the
major producers and distributors of cachaça. The
advertisement is very state-specific. Research and development funds are
set aside for marketing that is designed to capture the current trends, styles
and attitudes accepted and displayed by each of Brazil's states.
For instance, São Paulo's brand Caninha 51's advertisement includes
billboards which feature the TV comedian and, its spokesperson, Chico
Anysio. Movie theater trailer ads show Chico Anysio in the roles
of a drunk, a politician and a Don Juan, each enjoying Caninha 51 appropriately
(according to the personality of the character).
Caninha 51's movie theater trailer ads are filmed differently for the
audiences of smaller Brazilian towns. The ads still feature Chico Anysio,
but this time the comedian discusses benefits of the drink, in addition to its
taste, such as its practical packaging and the clear color of the liquid.
Walter Guelfi, the VP of Lage & Magy, the agency in charge of the
advertisement for Caninha 51, says that the tailor-made-by-state ads have been
instrumental in helping Caninha 51 gain and retain market share. The Lage
& Magy agency's new advertising campaign is called Agent 51.
The Agent 51 ad places employees of the advertisement agency in various bars
throughout the state of Paraná.
These employees, masquerading as customers, wait for someone to order
Caninha 51. As soon as someone does order the drink, both the customer
and the bar owner win prizes. The prizes awarded so far have been
bicycles, videocassettes and electronic equipment. Caninha 51's
competitor and current market leader, in Paraná, is Caninha Jamel.
Similarly, the cachaça Velho Barreiro also devotes a large portion of
revenues to advertisement expense. Velho Barreiro's most popular slogan
is an amusing piece called Chama o Velho (call the old man -- a word play on the
brand name). The ad
had its debut on television and later on radio stations in São Paulo
and in the Northern part of the country.
Carlos Leão, of the agency Fisher & Justus, prefers to concentrate media
advertisement efforts on television advertisements. Fisher & Justus
is the agency responsible for the advertisement for Velho Barreiro.
Fisher & Justus is also the agency that was the brainchild of the
popular slogan Número 1 (Number 1) for Brahma during the 1994 soccer World Cup
in the US.
Velho Barreiro is one of the most sophisticated brands of cachaça and
as such one would expect it to appeal to the upper class, but, according to the
agency, the advertisements have been effective in reaching the local
(neighborhood) bar clientele, which, in Brazil, tends to be middle and
lower class.
The cachaça brand Caninha da Roça prefers to sponsor radio
shows instead of the traditional television advertisement. José
Luiz de Barros, President of marketing at Caninha da Roça, prefers to
advertise in Rio where the firm enjoys a market share of 49.5%.
In addition to radio shows, Caninha da Roça advertises in the form of
promotions or give-aways such as napkins decorated with the company logo,
among several other similar items.
Cachaça might soon have its own special day. The SBC (Sociedade
Brasileira da Cachaça) wants to declare June 12 the International Day of Cachaça
because June 12, 1744, Portugal, then colonizer of Brazil, prohibited the
production and distribution of cachaça in the country.
Enough of statistics, market data and other general information; I urge you
to indulge in a cachaça cocktail prepared in any of the ways mentioned in
the recipes section. Although, you might want to start the traditional
way, which also happens to be my favorite, with cachaça, lime, ice and
sugar. Enjoy!
Brasilien