For more than 9-years, I have had the pleasure and privilege of representing the world’s leading luxury wine and spirits portfolio in Canada. During my tenure, my team and I have overseen the success of nationwide initiatives and helped cultivate Canadians’ perceptions and understanding of this category. Being a part of a global network, it is our team’s responsibility to uphold and bring awareness to the legacy of these storied brands and help cultivate a culture and audience for each product among trade, media and consumers.
Our trade partners including restaurateurs, mixologists, sommeliers, chefs and service staff have been impacted in immeasurable ways during COVID-19. Ours is one of the hardest hit industries – every day there are more and more of our favourite restaurants in every community closing across Canada.
Moët Hennessy in Canada is committed to supporting them. Through a national initiative titled, Coming Together, we created programs to help support the hospitality community through local and national initiatives that will continue throughout 2020.
In addition to a $50,000 donation made by the Maison Hennessy to the Bartenders Benevolent Fund, we have also initiated the following programs:
1 #HennessyMyWay – We are engaging 50 Canadian bartenders to showcase their mixology skills. Bartenders will share a 30-second social media video showcasing how they enjoy Hennessy their way for a chance to be featured on Hennessy.com. They will be offered renumeration and a branded Hennessy gift package.
2 The Coming Together Cocktail Project – “The Coming Together Cocktail Project” will feature cocktail recipes from Canada’s top 50 mixologists. This initiative aims to raise funds via the sale of a high-gloss coffee table or digital magazine, which will be available at key retailers across Canada later this year. All proceeds will benefit the Canadian cocktail creators.
3 Coming Together Instagram Live Cocktail Sessions – We are hosting weekly Coming Together Instagram Live cocktail sessions educating social media audiences on the essentials of cocktail making with brand ambassador Sabrine Dhaliwal and a special guest joining each week. We will make a charitable donation to each guest’s charity of choice. Cocktail sessions take place every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. PST on Sabrine’s Instagram page: @sabrinedhaliwal.
4 Restaurant & Catering Partnerships – To support local trade partners, we are designing bespoke consumer packages and promotions to create memorable at-home experiences featuring elements like virtual tastings, surprise guests and more.
As we continue to weather these unprecedented times, we are committed to…
doing our part to unite the industry and support our partners at every phase of this crisis.
It is in Coming Together with our local partners that we will surmount these challenges and once again enjoy all that this industry has to offer.
Véronique Gonneville
National Communications Director of Moët Hennessy in Canada