Liquori Casoni buys Sassolino and aims to double in three years

This is the first acquisition in Italy for Casoni, the Finale Emilia liquor group that has acquired the Stampa brand famous for the historic Sassolino. An aniseed liqueur deeply rooted in Emilia (where it is the inevitable ingredient of the traditional zuppa inglese), which today sells 160 thousand bottles and has a turnover of 1.2 million euro but which, according to Casoni, can double its sales within three years by exploiting its as yet unexpressed potential and expanding its distribution.

"We seized a double opportunity, since we bought it at auction at an attractive price (for about 180 thousand euro) and it fits in perfectly with our desire to build a pole of Modenese liqueurs, with which to enhance local know-how and raw materials, such as Vignola cherries and balsamic vinegar, explains Paolo Molinari, who in 2016, together with his partner Pier Giorgio Pola, bought back the family distillery and liqueur company, which had been owned by Averna in 2006 and then passed on to Campari. "I like to describe us as the start-up of a company with 211 years of history, because we have truly started from scratch by going back to work on both pillars on which Casoni's success had been built: proprietary branding and production for other companies," Molinari points out.

Founded as a branded company, focusing on traditional spirits and liqueurs, Casoni has since the 1960s expanded mainly through production for companies and private labels, which still today generates 90% of the 63 million euro turnover and accounts for a large part of the 31 million bottles produced in a year (they will be 33 million in 2025). Casoni produces 450 references between liqueurs, spirits and alcoholic beverages, also customised, i.e. made on a turnkey basis (from product concept to pack design to worldwide delivery) according to customer requirements.

"When we took it over, the company was effectively reduced to a subcontractor and, despite having had famous brands, such as Braulio and Limoncetta di Sorrento, it only had Casoni left in its portfolio,' adds Molinari. 'We had to rebuild a history, starting from our territory and our expertise in natural products, derived from infusions and distillations of local herbs and fruits. The results have rewarded us: in the last six years, our brands have quadrupled their weight (in 2025 they will rise to 12% of turnover) and the goal is to grow them more and more both on the domestic market and abroad'.

Present with a plant in Slovakia, where it produces Italian spirits and liqueurs, and a sales branch in Great Britain (and 70% export), Casoni has a complete range of products from the historical ones, such as the Anicione and Nocino di Modena, to the more international ones. Two are the iconic brands created in recent years: Amaro del Ciclista, made from 18 cold-infused herbs and which is 'pedalling' well, and Tabar gin, offered in five versions, including the Vignola cherry Igp and the Emilia-Romagna pear Igp. And if in Italy Sassolino will strengthen its presence in the evergreen market of liqueurs for desserts and the Stampa brand will sign new products destined for the Horeca, at the international level the company has taken over the English gin brand Perfetto. On a global level important is the world of aperitifs, in which it is present with the Casoni 1814 line that includes vermouth, bitters and aperitifs, the latter also in a non-alcoholic version that sells more than 2 million bottles a year. The company is also focusing on low and no-alcohol not only in production but also in distribution.