Case Studies Alcohol Bacardi
Patrón leads Tequila in the UK. In Frankfurt, it was on the bottom shelf.
A Shelftrak audit benchmarked the brand’s share of Tequila space across eleven UK and European airports — and pinned the loss to a single location, down to exactly how much shelf space Patrón was missing.
- Client
- Bacardi
- Category
- Tequila
- Scope
- 11 European airports
- Data
- Shelftrak audit, Aug 2024
The brief
Find the fair-share gap. Then find the stores causing it.
Bacardi asked a straightforward commercial question: is Patrón getting the shelf space its performance has earned, in every store that matters?
Answering it meant benchmarking share of Tequila space, facings and listings against the competition — location by location, fixture by fixture.
Shelftrak audited eleven airports across the UK and Europe. The pattern that emerged wasn’t a general problem. It was one airport.
What the audit found
0%
lower share of Tequila space in Europe than Patrón holds in the UK
0%
below the European average share of space across Frankfurt Airport
0%
below Patrón’s own European facings-per-SKU index in Frankfurt
Finding 01
The UK sets the standard
At a total level, Patrón commands 34% of Tequila linear space in UK stores against 27% across Europe. The UK number proves the brand can hold a third of the category — which makes every location below it a measurable opportunity, not a matter of opinion.
Finding 02
At home, three Heathrow terminals trail the pack
Most UK stores hold Patrón at or above its national average. LHR T2, T3 and T5 sit below it — specific, addressable opportunities for the account team rather than a market-wide fight.
* LHR T4 share is of a 4-linear-metre Tequila fixture · = below UK average
Finding 03
In Europe, Frankfurt is the outlier — across every terminal
Paris CDG shows what good looks like. Frankfurt shows the opposite: all three stores sit far below the European average, and T2 barely registers at 2%. This is where the audit went deeper.
= Frankfurt stores, all below the European average
Inside the store — Frankfurt T2
The category leader, reduced to one bottle.
Patrón gets just one SKU and one facing on the bottom shelf. Don Julio, on promotion, holds four listings and owns the fixture. Other competitors average three to four each.
This is the visual and measured evidence Patrón needs to make the case for more space.
Shelftrak audit photo — Frankfurt T2 main store
The recommendations
What the audit told Bacardi to do next
01
Close the gap to the European average
Patrón holds 27% of tequila space across Europe, but significantly less in its weakest locations.
Closing that gap in key stores represents a fast, targeted opportunity to gain space.
02
Rebuild the position in Frankfurt T2
One listing, one facing, bottom shelf.
The audit gives Bacardi the evidence to reset Patrón’s competitive position against Don Julio, Jose Cuervo and Casamigos.
03
Lead the Tequila category review
Tequila is 6.3% of the store’s category space and growing.
The data supports Bacardi in advising Heinemann on a full category development plan — with Patrón at the centre.
Take this case study with you
The full Patrón Europe study as a PDF — charts, audit photos and findings. PDF · 1.8 MB
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