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Brazil’s national spirit1, cachaça, is already the third most consumed liquor2 in the world, but its export

potential may have only scratched the surface now that consumers in the United States have taken a liking3 to the caipir-inha. There’s more than 40,000 cachaça pro-ducers in Brazil and 1.2 billion liters of production capacity, but just 1 percent of that cachaça is exported. That 1 percent is still big, with more than 11 million liters exported last year and US$15.58 million in revenue4 generated. About 180 Brazilian producers export to 60 foreign countries, with Germany be-ing the top export market, the U.S. sec-ond, Portugal third and Paraguay fourth. Germany and much of Europe are mar-kets where cachaça and the caipirinha are well-established, but the growth potential of the U.S. market is huge, and is driven by American consumers love of mixed drinks. Within the last five years, the U.S. has risen from the no. 5 cachaça sales market to no. 2, a rapid increase considering how many Americans still don’t know the drink. Cachaça is often compared to rum, but similarities end with their source, sugar-cane. Rum is aged from molasses5, a by-product6 left over after sugar is produced, while cachaça is distilled from fresh-squeezed cane juice. The U.S. government still fails to respect this difference, and requires cachaça bot-tles to be labeled “Brazilian rum” to com-ply with U.S. liquor law. Brazilian cachaça producers have been lobbying the U.S. government for years to give cachaça its own category as a unique liquor. It’s the same battle that Mexico’s tequila industry had to fight for many years be-fore, and only won after Americans were educated about tequila’s unique qualities. Cachaça producers are trying to learn from tequila’s success. Education starts with bartenders. Leblon Cachaça, a top brand in the U.S. in both revenue and volume sold, has marketing staff7 visiting bars around the U.S. con-stantly to teach servers about the caipirin-

cachaça

IThE aLcOhOL INDUSTRY

twenty-nine 29

GLOSSaRY

A partir da Caipirinha, o mundo está aprendendo a respeitar - e a importar - a cachaça brasileiraby bob moser | B2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE

1 spirit: bebida alcoólica (BrE)

2 liquor: bebida alcoólica (AmE)

3 have taken a liking: tomaram gosto

4 revenue: receita 5 molasses: melaço 6 byproduct:

subproduto (dos retos)

7 marketing staff: equipe de marketing, promotores

8 “Caipi Mobile”: “caipi-móvel”

9 It’s a cheap plane ticket: é como uma passagem aérea barata

10 top-selling brand: marca das mais vendidas

11 prejudiced: considerada com preconceito

12 straight: pura

SUGARCANE INDUSTRY GROWS AT RECORD PACE

1 pace: ritmo 2 sugarcane harvest:

colheita de cana de açúcar

3 is primed: está pronta 4 seemingly insatiable:

aparentemente insaciável

brAzil business

ha. Leblon has also created LegalizeCach-aca.com, a website to educate consumers and collect signatures to show the U.S. government how many Americans sup-port cachaça. Leblon organizes “Caipi Hour” parties that are held at famous bars and restaurants around the nation, and has a “Caipi Mo-bile”8 that drives through New York, Los Angeles and Miami, inviting Americans off the street to taste a caipirinha. “We’re not just selling a spirit or cocktail, people drink (caipirinhas) for a cultural ex-perience,” said Steve Luttmann, president of Leblon Cachaça. “It’s a cheap plane ticket9, for most people it’s their first ex-perience with Brazil.” Even while Brazilians consume nearly 99% of all cachaça there’s growth potential in Brazil, because some Brazilians still be-lieve that cachaça is a poor man’s drink, says Vitoria Cavalcanti, foreign sales di-rector for Pitú, a top-selling brand10 at home and abroad.“Brazilians drink beer, they drink vodka, but cachaça is still prejudiced11 by many,” Cavalcanti said. “We have to educate the barmen and waiters here. In Mexico, when you enter a restaurant, the first thing they ask you is if you’d like a margarita, or te-quila straight12. Here, waiters don’t do that. They never mention cachaça or caipirinhas on their own. “This is our job, we have to proclaim that cachaça is not for the poor, or the slave, but for everybody.”

Cachaça production is growing, but it accounts for a small portion of Brazil’s annual sugarcane harvest2. Most cane goes towards sugar and ethanol, both of which Brazil leads the world in production of. Brazil’s cane industry is primed3 to meet a seemingly insatiable4 world demand for both sugar and ethanol in the coming years. Global

sugar demand is growing as populations in Asia gain wealth, and Brazil’s ethanol production can’t grow fast enough to meet demand abroad, or here at home. Flex-fuel car sales in Brazil broke national records in 2010. The country plans to more than double its ethanol production by 2019, from 26 billion liters annually today to 64 billion liters.

iSugarcane InduStry growS at record Pace1

ExpORTS