cannes_2025_TUESDAY_ISSUE_DIGITAL

T ito’s Handmade Vodka is accelerating its global growth, with recent market entries in Africa and continued momentum across multiple travel retail regions. At the same time, the brand is reinforcing its commitment to mixology and pushing for a more tech-forward future for the channel. “Our first container just landed in Ghana last Thursday, and we’ve just opened in Ethiopia and Djibouti,” revealed John McDonnell, Tito’s Managing Director of International Operations. “We’re now starting to expand across Africa.” Tito’s has already made significant inroads into South Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. “Africa is really the next frontier,” McDonnell said. Elsewhere, the brand recently launched in Greek duty free and is seeing strong performance in the cruise channel. “We’re solid on cruises – in fact, we’re doing well with every cruise line,” he added. But McDonnell emphasised that Tito’s is not just expanding – it’s engaging. “Our big focus remains on showing just howmixable Tito’s is,” he said. “We work with mixologists across Asia and Europe, and they travel to neighbouring countries for training seminars and guest shifts. That’s been a major part of our strategy over the past two or three years.” On the expansion trail: Tito’s targets Africa and pushes for digital innovation Looking ahead, McDonnell believes digital will be a game-changer for travel retail – if the industry is ready to evolve. “I’ve been saying this since before Covid: duty free needs an app – like Uber,” he said. “Imagine a traveller on the way to the airport opens an app, selects a bottle of Tito’s, scans their passport and boarding pass, pays with Apple Pay, and the bottle is ready and waiting when they board the plane.” He continued: “Right now, the average traveller doesn’t know who the duty free operator is – to them, it’s just ‘duty free’. We need a unified platform. And the airports should support it too, since they get a cut.” GreenVillageM71 Tuesday 30 September 2025 42 T F W A D A I L Y