Monsell Darville- BACARDI: The King of Spirits and a Global Leader
Monsell Darville, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, recognizes that in order for BACARDI to maintain its position as one of the world’s leading spirits and wine producers, they must look outside the States to burgeoning cities for novelty. The vice president and brand managing director for the House of BACARDI avers, “When I started 15 years ago, we rarely looked beyond the U.S. borders for examples or inspiration. Today the world is absolutely global. We might look at a flavor that is incredibly popular in a small market, a local soft drink that exists in Johannesburg, or we may look at a flavor that is predominant somewhere in Sweden in some other form, shape, etc.”
Giving accolades to the product development staff that mixes flavors in the BACARDI lab, Darville continues, “The young generation gets smarter and smarter and is more innovative. There is a greater appreciation for everything. We constantly search the globe to hopefully stumble upon something that is unique and different [and] that is wonderfully successful in some other parts of the world, that simply hasn’t had the chance to be exposed elsewhere.”
Since Darville joined BACARDI in 1994, he’s helped the brand grow more sophisticated in its marketing strategy and product development. “We were a single-legged stool all wrapped around BACARDI Superior. Our flavors are a perfect example of how the brand and the business have grown. We have gone from BACARDI and a few other smaller brands to an industry leader across all segments.”
A revolutionary in the spirits industry, BACARDI sells the No. 1 rated scotch, super premium gin and super premium vodka. Darville vaunts, “We have the finest liquors in the world in our portfolio. We have the finest super premium tequila as in CAZADORES. As an entity, what we looked like in 1994 versus today is really just a shell … then we were a very small organization as compared to a very global organization today.”
–yvette caslin
