Cointreau SAGA
A mix of tradition and modernity
Four generations of the Cointreau family have led Cointreau, since the brand was founded, 150 years ago.
 | 1849Adolphe and Edouard-Jean Cointreau, famous master confectioners, establish a distillery in Angers to create spirits using local fruits. |
 | 1875Edouard Cointreau, son of Edouard-Jean, distills a spirit from sweet and bitter orange peel, with a highly crystalline robe, which is a major novelty at the time. He also invents the square-sided amber-coloured container, the modern version of which still remains the signature of Cointreau liqueur to this day. |
 | 1898Creation of the Pierrot character, which became the symbolic image of the brand, by famous poster artist Nicolas Tamago (after a photograph by Nadar). |
 | 1899Just three years after the invention of motion pictures, Edouard Cointreau launches the first advertising film, featuring famous Pierrot. |
 | Early 1900's800,000 bottles of Cointreau are sold per year. Cointreau opens its first branches across Europe. |
 | 1923The brand’s success is growing, reaching as far as the United States, Canada and Latin America. Edouard’s sons, Louis and André Cointreau, replace him at the head of the family business and invent the concept of “the worldwide brand”. This slogan is used on most of the brand’s poster campaigns across the globe. |
 | 1960sJames Bond embodies the image of Cointreau in its advertising. |
 | 1989Cointreau merges with Rémy Martin, the cognac distillery founded in 1724. The new company is listed on the Paris stock exchange and becomes a major player in the high-quality wines and spirits market. |
 | 1992“Voulez-vous Cointreau avec moi?” is the leading question in Cointreau campaigns. |
 | 2001 Cointreau inaugurates the "Be Cointreauversial" campaign. Only used outside France, it is aimed at women who express themselves, |
 | 2005 Cointreau launches the Cointreaupolitan, the hip accessory for Parisian after-works drinks. At premiers, private viewings, inaugurations, |
 | 2007 Dita Von Teese becomes the Global Brand Ambassadress. |
 | 2010Dita Von Teese opens the first Cointreau Privé an ephemeral cocktail bar in the heart of Montmartre, Paris. |