What COINTREAU does

COINTREAU is a French spirits company headquartered in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou with sole production at the Le Carré distillery in Angers, where it manufactures a premium 40% ABV orange liqueur from the unchanged 1885 recipe combining sweet and bitter orange peels through maceration and distillation. The company's flagship product, Cointreau L'Unique, contains 40+ aromatic compounds organized into seven olfactory families (zesty, fruity, floral, animal, spicy, gourmet, vegetal) and is the foundational ingredient in 500+ classic and contemporary cocktails including the Original Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Sidecar, and White Lady. The portfolio has expanded beyond the core SKU into Cointreau Noir (cognac blend), Cointreau Spicy, Cointreau Citrus Spritz, Cointreau Cocktail Twists (RTD line launched 2024), and the bartender-focused Cointreau Citrus Series — Opus 1 The Pomelo, a limited-edition Corsican Pomelo distillate developed by Master Distiller Carole Quinton.

The brand operates under Rémy Cointreau Group and distributes globally through physical retail (Leclerc, Carrefour, Monoprix in France; Waitrose in UK; Reserve Bar in US), e-commerce (own website, Amazon), and on-trade venues accessed via a public bar locator. Cointreau pursues a multi-channel go-to-market combining direct-to-consumer e-commerce, event-driven activation (Margarita Bars at festivals across Germany, Switzerland, UK, Spain), and community-led engagement with the professional bartending community through its role as Official Orange Liqueur Partner of The World's 50 Best Bars, Cocktail Talks education, and a celebrity-driven PR strategy including its 2025 Aubrey Plaza holiday campaign. Kosher certification on the core SKU broadens addressable consumer segments, while seven localized websites (France, UK, USA, Australia, China) anchor a four-continent digital presence.

Revenue is generated through unit-priced bottle sales across 35cl, 70cl, and 75cl formats with no disclosed pricing or subscription model; financial detail is consolidated at the parent Rémy Cointreau Group level. The business runs 15M+ bottles annually through a single production site, suggesting efficient scale at the manufacturing layer, while brand-side investment centers on recipe continuity, trademarked packaging assets, and ecosystem-level bartender engagement rather than technology differentiation.

Name

COINTREAU

Legal name

COINTREAU

Website

https://cointreau.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1849

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

COINTREAU is a French spirits company that produces and globally distributes a premium 40% ABV orange liqueur under its flagship Cointreau L'Unique brand, serving professional bartenders and consumers through retail, e-commerce, and on-trade channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-barthelemy-d'anjou

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Spirits/Liqueur Sales: Cointreau generates revenue through the sale of its orange liqueur products including Cointreau L'Unique (40% ABV), Cointreau Noir (cognac-based variant), and ready-to-drink Cocktail Twists line (15% ABV). Products are sold in various bottle sizes (35cl, 70cl, 75cl) through retail, e-commerce, and on-trade channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

COINTREAU manufactures and sells an iconic French orange liqueur (triple sec) at 40% ABV, produced in Angers, France from sweet and bitter orange peels using a proprietary recipe unchanged since 1885. Its product portfolio extends from the flagship Cointreau L'Unique to variant expressions such as Cointreau Noir (cognac-blended), Cointreau Spicy, Cointreau Citrus Spritz, and the 2024-launched ready-to-drink Cointreau Cocktail Twists line, complemented by a library of over 500 cocktail recipes.

Product overview

COINTREAU is a French orange liqueur company offering a portfolio of alcoholic beverage products centered around its flagship Cointreau L'Unique (40% ABV orange liqueur). The product line includes Cointreau Noir (with cognac), Cointreau Spicy (spicy variant), Cointreau Citrus Spritz (sparkling citrus drink), and Cointreau Cocktail Twists (ready-to-drink line launched 2024). The company also offers Cointreau Citrus Series - The Pomelo, a bartender-focused limited edition distillate. All products leverage the signature blend of sweet and bitter orange peels that has defined Cointreau since 1885, with over 400 cocktail recipes available to showcase the versatility of the core liqueur.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cointreau L'Unique: The flagship orange liqueur product, 40% ABV, made from bitter and sweet orange peels
• Cointreau Noir
• Cointreau Citrus Spritz
• Cointreau Cocktail Twists
• Cointreau Spicy
• Cointreau Limited Editions
• Cointreau Citrus Series - The Pomelo

Products and services

• Cointreau L'Unique Flagship French orange liqueur at 40% ABV, made from the marriage of dried sweet and bitter orange peels with fresh sweet orange peels, pure water, sugar and neutral alcohol. Offers 40+ aromatic compounds and is the foundation of over 400 cocktails. Kosher-certified, gluten-free, sulphite-free, suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and contains no allergens. Available in 35cl, 70cl and 75cl bottles.
• Cointreau Noir Dark variant of the classic Cointreau orange liqueur blended with cognac, delivering a richer, more complex flavor profile at 40% ABV. Not Kosher-certified due to cognac content.
• Cointreau Spicy Spicy orange liqueur variant designed to convert a classic Margarita into a Spicy Margarita. Part of Cointreau's heating-up product line.
• Cointreau Citrus Spritz Ready-to-serve sparkling citrus spritz cocktail with Cointreau as the base liqueur, positioned as a fruity, easy-serve aperitif option.
• Cointreau Cocktail Twists Ready-to-drink pre-mixed cocktail line in aluminum bottles at 15% ABV, offering Berry Cosmo and Lime Daiquiri variants for on-the-go consumption.
• Cointreau Citrus Series - The Pomelo Limited-edition Opus 1 of the Citrus Series developed by Master Distiller Carole Quinton. Features Corsican Pomelo (Citrus Paradisi) distillate from the plain of Aléria in Corsica, distilled in traditional copper column stills and designed for professional bartenders' cocktail creation.
• Cointreau Limited Editions Limited edition packaging variants of the classic Cointreau liqueur with changing containers and designs while the liquid remains the same as Cointreau L'Unique.
• Cocktail Recipes Library of over 400 cocktail recipes built around Cointreau, including Original Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Sidecar, White Lady and Cointreau Fizz, available through the website's cocktail discovery and recipe sections to drive brand usage and bartender/consumer engagement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 40 aromatic compounds identified in Cointreau through scientific analysis
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• The World's 50 Best BarscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Cointreau returns as the Official Orange Liqueur Partner of The World's 50 Best Bars for the second consecutive year, proudly sponsoring the red scarf. This partnership provides significant visibility among elite bartenders and cocktail professionals globally.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Marie Brizard: French liqueur producer with an orange liqueur in its portfolio. Comparable as a heritage French liqueur brand competing for bartender cocktail placements and consumer occasion-driven purchases.
• Grand Marnier: French cognac-and-orange liqueur, the most direct competitor to Cointreau in the premium orange liqueur / triple sec category. Both target cocktail use cases (Margarita, Sidecar) and compete for the same bartender and consumer occasions globally.
• Luxardo: Italian liqueur producer with a Triplum triple sec line that directly competes with Cointreau at the premium end of the orange liqueur category, with strong on-trade presence and bartender advocacy.
• Bols: Dutch liqueur brand producing a triple sec among its broad liqueur portfolio. Competes with Cointreau in the bartender channel for triple-sec placements and at retail in mass-market and value tiers across global markets.
• Combier: French liqueur house often credited as the original triple sec. Sells a competing orange liqueur made from bitter and sweet orange peels, directly competing with Cointreau in the bartender and consumer segments, particularly in France and Europe.
• De Kuyper: Dutch liqueur specialist producing a widely distributed triple sec that competes with Cointreau in retail and on-trade channels, particularly in the US, with strong value-tier positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Rémy Martin: Sibling brand under the same parent Rémy Cointreau Group. As a flagship cognac brand, it shares distribution, marketing infrastructure, and corporate strategy with Cointreau, providing the most direct internal benchmark for premium spirits brand economics.
• Campari: Italian bitter aperitivo and liqueur group with a broad portfolio including competing liqueur SKUs. Comparable as a premium cocktail-liqueur incumbent with significant on-trade presence and bartender community engagement.
• Baileys: Premium liqueur brand (Irish cream) owned by Diageo. Comparable as a category-defining liqueur brand with strong cocktail and at-home occasion positioning, providing a benchmark for premium liqueur marketing and RTD adjacencies.

Emerging players

• St-Germain: French elderflower liqueur occupying a similar premium-liqueur position in modern cocktail culture. While not orange-flavored, it competes for the same bartender endorsement, premium cocktail menu placement, and at-home mixology occasion share.

Market position

Strengths6 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cointreau_us
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CointreauOfficiel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cointreau
• Instagraminstagram.com/Cointreau
• Facebookfacebook.com/Cointreau

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COINTREAU