Aperitifs and spritz: what Aperol’s slowdown, St-Germain’s surge, and 4 billion global servings tell brand teams

The aperitif occasion is the most commercially significant new drinking moment of the past decade. It pulled consumption earlier in the evening, recruited new drinkers from beer and wine simultaneously, and created a serve format – the spritz – that became the most photographed drink on social media. Campari Group built an entire company identity around it. Now the occasion is maturing, and a new competitive dynamic is opening up within it.

The data from this summer’s results season makes the shift visible. Campari reported House of Aperitifs at 49% of group revenue in H1 2026, with Aperol growing 3.3% – positive, but a material slowdown from the double-digit years. Meanwhile, Bacardi’s St-Germain elderflower liqueur reported double-digit year-on-year growth, driven by the Hugo Spritz. In the UK, Hugo Spritz Google search interest pulled ahead of Aperol Spritz for the first time this summer. In the US, the Financial Times reported St-Germain grew 40% in three months while Aperol fell 4% in the same period. The category is not shrinking – global spritz consumption rose from under 2.5 billion servings in 2019 to nearly 4 billion in 2024. But the brand that defined the occasion is no longer the only beneficiary of the occasion it created.

For brand and commercial teams outside Campari and Bacardi: that is the commercially interesting development. The aperitif spritz occasion has become large enough, familiar enough, and structurally established enough that new entrants can compete for it. And the consumer is actively experimenting with what goes in the glass.

The scale of the occasion – the numbers that matter