Trusting in tradition
Konrad Kiedrzyński: What condition is the Polish spirits market in? Has it felt the impact of the growing popularity of beer and wine?
Tadeusz Dorda: Poland is one of the world's largest markets for hard liquor, especially for vodka. This is our traditional alcohol. The growth in popularity of other alcohols in recent years is not surprising. For many years, a whole range of alcohol products was unavailable to us and the minute the foreign markets opened, people discovered a taste for other alcohol products.
But I don't see any major changes in the vodka market. I would say it is a steady market. Meanwhile, the only sector that is growing - [in Poland] and globally - is luxury vodka. It's growing at six to seven percent a year.
Your firm is very active in international markets. What is your target demographic?
Our target is the same all over the world - the upscale consumer who values quality. We do not compete with mass market vodkas, but with other luxury products, such as whiskey or cognac.
The national and regional traditions of distilling play a key role in your marketing. Why?
Creating a luxury brand, in many cases, takes a very long time - sometimes many generations. We have been promoting Chopin Vodka for less than two decades and it is already being recognized as one of the best products in its category. Two years ago, we were awarded a Double Gold Medal at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Polish traditions of making vodka play a big role in our promotional activities. As far as vodka is concerned, let's not forget that Chopin Vodka was the first luxury vodka in the world.
We need to remember that Polish vodka was not created yesterday, but several centuries ago. As far as vodka is concerned, we are trendsetters and we have every right to educate the world about this product.
I also want to stress that Chopin Vodka is strongly linked with the region of Podlasie [in northeast Poland] and based on locally grown potatoes. Podlasie is one of the cleanest regions in Europe and is famous for its natural farming.
Hard liquors sold abroad contribute to the building of the country's brand and image abroad. Do you get any assistance from the state in your promotional activities?
No. Our state does not see its role in the promotion of Polish alcohol abroad, although it should.
The support of the state should be very important and many countries do offer such assistance. Unfortunately, Poland is still running away from talking about or participating in the promotion of vodka. We Poles should be more open, or even more aggressive, in promotional activities. This is changing, but we should do even more.
Have you tried lobbying for the authorities to change their approach?
We lobby for the state not to interfere with our business. The truth is that we have been promoting our product for many years by ourselves. It is not an accident that now Polish vodka is popular throughout the world. Thanks to people like us, who have showed the world that a Polish product can be a luxury item, many others now want to follow suit.
Your basic product is vodka, but Polish tradition involves a whole range of spirits. Do you see any potential to produce and promote these abroad?
Poland has a great tradition of making other products based on vodka. Some people think that Poles drink only pure vodka but this is not true - we have a whole variety. In my opinion, the popularity of flavored vodkas is slowly returning. We are rediscovering products that we enjoyed many years ago.
