Turning apple orchards, French heritage & great cocktails into a multi-year Canadian success story.
When Calvados Business France asked us to help grow awareness in Canada, we knew exactly where to start: with creators, chefs, and stories that make people feel something. Because Calvados isn’t just a drink — it’s an experience, a craft, and a culture.
Over several years, we built a program that mixed travel, food, drinks, and creator storytelling to bring this iconic French spirit into Canadian feeds, bars, and conversations. The result? A spirited (pun gently intended) community of fans who discovered what makes Calvados so special.
Here’s how we did it and what we learned along the way.
Our Approach: What We Brought to Life
Influencers Who Love a Good Story
We hand-picked Canadian creators who genuinely fit the world of Calvados – chefs, home cooks, mixologists, food lovers, and travel storytellers. Their content didn’t just look beautiful. It made people want to taste, sip, shake, stir and learn.
Epic Trips to France
Yes, we packed our bags.
Yes, France delivered.
Creators were invited to Normandy to walk the orchards, tour distilleries, sip straight from the source, and dive into the world of Calvados. These trips generated some of the most engaging, evergreen content in the entire program and helped audiences understand the soul of the category.
Chef + Bartender Collabs
If you’ve ever tried a cocktail in a restaurant and immediately told your friends about it… that’s exactly what we tapped into.
Calvados showed up on menus, in drinks, and in dessert recipes from chefs and bartenders across Canada. Real kitchen credibility, real consumer trial.
Seasonal Content That Educated & Inspired
From cozy winter cocktails to summer spritzes, holiday pairings, French heritage stories, and cooking-with-Calvados moments – we kept the social channels warm all year long.
Media Support & Sampling
Press outreach, beautiful seeding kits, and strategic media touchpoints helped amplify our creator content beyond social.
Community, Not Just Campaigns
Across the years, we nurtured a roster of creators who truly believed in the product. Some came back year after year and their audiences picked up on that authenticity.
Top 3 Wins
- France Trips That Broke the Internet (Gently, but Impressively)
You really can’t beat Normandy as a backdrop.
Creators captured the orchards, the distilleries, the food, the culture and those posts kept performing long after the plane landed back in Canada.
Travel content = reach.
Calvados heritage = depth.
Together = the secret sauce.
- A Strong Creator Community With Real Brand Love
Our long-tail approach meant we didn’t just “book influencers.”
We built relationships.
The creators who stayed with us over multiple years became unofficial brand ambassadors producing content that felt natural, trustworthy, and truly from-the-heart.
- Chef Influence That Converted Curiosity into Cocktails
When a drink shows up on a great bar menu, or a dish lands on a plate at a trusted restaurant, people talk. They try. They share.
Our chef and bartender partners helped position Calvados where it belongs: in the world of craft. This drove trial, awareness, and real-world relevance.
One Key Learning
Keep the Creator Mix Fresh – But Balanced
Bringing back creators year after year builds trust.
But bringing in new faces keeps the content fresh and satisfies funding requirements.
The takeaway?
Anchor the program with familiar voices, but rotate in new creators to keep things relevant and exciting.
It’s the perfect blend.
The Outcome
Over our partnership with Calvados Business France, we helped the brand:
- Build recognition across the Canadian market
- Show up credibly in both food and cocktail culture
- Grow a community of creators, chefs, and fans
- Tell richer French heritage stories
- Generate evergreen content that continues to perform
- Strengthen visibility through travel, media, and hospitality partners
It’s been a rewarding journey and a great example of how cultural storytelling, creator relationships, and culinary influence can reshape the trajectory of a heritage spirit.