With a presence in more than 125 markets worldwide, the Cuban rum company Havana Club International S.A. is ranked 21st among global spirit manufacturers, despite not being marketed in the United States, the main buyer of this type of beverage internationally.
Despite the inability to sell in the U.S., which accounts for 40 percent of total rum imports worldwide, the aforementioned joint enterprise currently sells 50 million bottles per year, led by the domestic market, followed by Germany, France, Spain, Chile, Canada and Mexico.
According to Jerome Cottin-Bizonne, director general of Havana Club International S.A., the company plans to make investments at its plant in San José de las Lajas, Mayabeque province, to expand and further modernize in order to meet growing global demand and cater to the eventual opening of the U.S. market.
The French director noted that these measures seek to ensure the marketing and distribution of high-end rum in the United States, once U.S. authorities authorize its sale, currently prohibited by the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba.
In January, it was reported that the U.S. Treasury Department had granted the renewal of the registration of the Havana Club trademark to Cubaexport, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had accepted the Cuban entity as the legitimate owner of the Cuban rum company.
The granting of the trademark represents an end to a two-decades long legal battle over rights to use the Havana Club trademark in the United States, also contested by Bacardi.
Despite the new stage in relations between Washington and Havana, the blockade continues to prohibit financial transactions with Cuba, except in the case of certain licenses granted by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Of the four million cases sold by Havana Club International S.A. in 2015, just over one million were distributed in Cuba, an increase of 17 percent over the previous year, driven by increased tourist arrivals to the country.
The joint venture was created in 1993, between the Corporación Cuba Ron and the French group, Pernod Ricard. The company is currently working to strengthen its iconic collection of prestigious rums, designed for the higher end of the market, composed of the Havana Club Selección de Maestros, Añejo 15 años, Unión and Máximo grades.
