When Michael Jordan decided to venture into the tequila business, he may well have applied a fairly simple strategy.
It would have been enough for him to put his name on the label and autograph a few bottles to run out of stock in a matter of hours, not really caring if the agave distillate tasted pleasant.
Instead, the NBA Hall of Famer and current owner of the Charlotte Hornets partnered with owners of the Celtics, Lakers and Bucks to create an extremely select brand of tequila, which has already won. prizes in tasting competitions, from New York to Los Angeles.
“It’s not about the ownership group, it’s not a celebrity-sponsored brand,” said Emilia Fazzalari, CEO of Cincoro Tequila and wife of Wyc Grousbeck, the owner of the Boston Celtics. “It was never about that. For us, the most important thing was the liquid ”.
The idea came about three years ago, when Jordan developed a love for Mexico’s iconic liquor while dining with Grousbeck; Fazzalari; Jeanie Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Wes Edens, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
“We wanted a tequila with a great taste,” Fazzalari said Monday, in a telephone interview. “We are competitors on the court. We face and compete with each other throughout the season, but we are collaborators by nature ”.
And the NBA moguls didn’t want to just write a check and watch the investment from afar.
Jordan was involved in the design of the bottle. He worked on this with Mark Smith, Nike’s vice president of innovation for special projects.
They devised a pentagonal container (which refers to the five rows in which the leaves of the agave are arranged). The bottle is tilted 23 degrees, the number Michael Jordan wore on his uniform.
“Michael’s influence was that of a true tequila lover and a person who just does things right,” said Grousbeck.
Edens brought his knowledge of logistics and the supply chain. Weekly conference calls and some meetings were held. The partners tried 1,000 different blends before settling on a flavor.
“All partners are actively involved in the company and have been from day one,” Fazzalari said. “We are not silent partners.”
Cincoro bottles four different tequilas, produced of course in Mexico, starting with the white, not aged, which sells for $ 70. A limited edition, Extra Añejo, remains in barrels for periods of 40 to 44 months and has a list price of $ 1,600, with a black bottle that is engraved in gold.
According to Russ Pareti, Cincoro’s marketing director, the tequila market is growing about 10% a year. But the luxury segment shows an annual expansion of 40%.
“This is really taking off,” he said.
Fazzalari did not specify sales or production figures, except to note that stocks have been depleted in some of the 12 markets in which this tequila has been launched within the United States.
The entrepreneurs hope to have a presence in all 50 states of the country next year, before bringing the product to Asia and Europe, Grousbeck said.
He added that NBA owners have signed business partnerships before. On one occasion, they invested in the same company or fund.
However, Grousbeck couldn’t recall a case where four or more team owners had come together on a project.
“It’s pretty weird,” he said. “But there are close ties between the team leaders in general.” AP