The all-Italian story of the “substitute” aperitif in an envelope of bartenders blocked by the pandemic

by time news

In an entrepreneurial landscape sunk and unmotivated by Covid, it stands out a success story which seems designed for the dark times of red areas and totally closed bars otdeprived of happy hour, but instead it was thought much earlier, not even the three creators had had the classic glass ball to predict the future.

It is that of the brand, all made in Italy ‘The Perfect Cocktail “, which offers Long Island, Cosmopolitan and Co in single-dose sachets with chic packaging, already mixed and ready to drink and after having depopulated in the United States it has just made its debut in Italy with the slogan “Shakera, open, pour”. without forgetting the duty “and drink responsible”.

A Negroni prepared with Perfetc Cocktail

The company that without having foreseen it it found itself making up for the ban on aperitifs in bars imposed by anti-coronavirus government closures it is also distinguished by a not just personal detail: the idea is of three Milanese, Gianni Merenda, already an expert in “mixology” with his events and bar show agency who collaborated with the most important international bartenders and the brothers Max and David Razionale who trained in the family business that designs promotional items and gadgets especially intended for beverage companies. The three are not millennials nor are they part of Generation Z, but at 60, 50 and 45, respectively, they are proving that Winning startups aren’t exclusively young people’s stuff.

But let’s go in order: “Four years ago when we started thinking about the project – explains to Time.news Gianni Merenda, responsible for the choice of blends and the development of cocktails – we were thinking of a product to be offered in the absence of a trusted bartender. Aperitifs to take on boat trips, on golf courses, by plane, at the top of the mountains and so on “. No sooner said than done, ‘The Perfect Cocktail’ was born, stored in a hundred milliliter mini-bag made with a special combination of recyclable materials. Just shake the mini-bag, open it and pour it into a glass full of ice.

perfect cocktail aperitif Italian startup envelope

An Americano made with Perfect Cocktail

The idea of ​​debuting first in the United States, where they arrived last January, just before the coronavirus emergency, he explains “was dictated by the fact that the US has always been a large market for alcohol, that’s where the aperitifs that made history were born “.

Before landing with an annual exclusive contract on the shelves of the American chain ‘Total wine and more’ with 220 outlets, says Merenda, a “blind test” was carried out to test the appreciation of the product: “A group of customers who count has tasted our cocktails without knowing where they come from ”he explains. After the tasting, called to express their vote from zero to 5, they expressed themselves with an average of 4.3 for quality. “A success, followed by a surge of disbelief when immediately afterwards we showed the video that revealed the connotation of the cocktails”.

Enhanced by a team that includes bartenders, oenologists and chemists and manufactured in Italy, the cocktails that in the US, informs Merenda, are recording a growth rate of over 30 percent per month, (“We make 40,000 to 80,000 miniboxes a day”) in the autumn they also landed in Italy with ten different proposals, from Negroni (our favorite at home) to Old fashioned (what Americans like best) passing for the Manhattan. Those with bubbles, incompatible with the mini-bag proposal, are excluded. “In Italy we started in the big hotels where, however, Covid has stopped us and now we are moving with ecommerce and with the completion of agreements with large retailers ”.

What about the prices? The cocktails are sold in boxes of five mini-bags at a cost of 24 euros (4.80 euros for a single cocktail) and for those who want to overdo it “or give a Christmas gift to the inevitable friend who has everything” there is also, informs the The Perfect Cocktail mini-fridge with 20 cocktails inside, for 295 euros.

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