Moët Hennessy’s Jean‑Marc Lacave on the future of LVMH

Lacave chatted with Tatler Dining Singapore on growing new legacies, the meaning of luxury today, and its commitment to sustainability

Jean‑Marc Lacave is a three‑decade veteran of LVMH, with expertise in both watches and jewellery as well as champagne. Of the Frenchman’s 30 years with the luxury group, almost 10 have been spent in Asia, including in Shanghai as president and CEO of LVMH Watch & Jewelry Asia, and in Hong Kong as president and CEO of Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific. Today, he is executive vice‑president of global distribution at Moët Hennessy, a role in which he has an overview of much of the group’s business, particularly wine and spirits, and its current position in the world.

And right now, LVMH’s position looks pretty good. Last December, the group’s chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault was named the world’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, toppling Elon Musk from the number one position. The same month, the group received a triple A rating from the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) for its commitment to sustainability.

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There is still plenty more to come. “We’re very much in expansion mode,” says Lacave, who was in Singapore for this interview last December. Part of this expansion involves developing new brands and maisons, each designed to have the same longevity as the group’s legacy brands, some of which have histories of several hundred years.

The group is targeting brand acquisitions to fuel its growth. For such moves, the first step is deciding whether a brand is a fit for LVMH’s current categories before it can add value. But most of all, it is about developing a brand with the original founders while ensuring there is that sense of place that LVMH’s brands have in common. “We have massive respect for our legacy brands,” says Lacave, referencing Hennessy (founded in 1765) and Veuve Clicquot (founded in 1772) and their respective founders Richard Hennessy and Madame Clicquot, adding that “a luxury house is a house, and a house is a place”.

Some of LVMH’s recent acquisitions and launches demonstrate the group’s strategy. In 2017, it formed a joint venture with the Gallardo family, which has been involved in the tequila industry for several centuries and has its roots in Jalisco, the birthplace of tequila, relaunching its Volcan de mi Tierra as a super‑premium tequila label. In 2019, the group acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans, forming a partnership with Sacha Lichine, the man behind the estate that produces the much‑loved rosé Whispering Angel, to further grow and develop the brand.

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Also in 2019, LVMH acquired Château Galoupet, a cru classé in Côtes de Provence that dates back to the 18th century. Here, LVMH stopped production to replant vines and focus on soil regeneration as part of its vision to put sustainability at the forefront, before relaunching two rosé wines, one a premium expression released in mid‑2022. “It won’t be the biggest rosé in the world, but can it be one of the best experiences in sustainability?” asks Lacave. “It’s not going to change the profitability and the success of Moët Hennessy, but we need to have it to give back to the industry, to benefit the whole industry.”

So, while Galoupet alone is not moving the needle more broadly on sustainability, it is exemplary of LVMH’s efforts, which span its brands. At the end of 2022, LVMH became one of only 12 companies out of the 15,000 scored by the CDP to achieve a triple A rating for leadership in corporate transparency and performance on climate change, forests and water security. This recognised leading scoring process, according to CDP Europe executive director Maxfield Weiss, shows the companies that are “ahead of the game—taking clear action to reduce emissions and address environment impacts through their value chains”.

“When we talk about sustainability, we have two strong beliefs: one is to be sure we’re data‑ and science‑driven, and the second is to be ahead of the game. We’re more about the expectations from our teams than our consumers, and what this means is we’re advancing and progressing faster,” says Lacave. “We’re privileged to be in a world where our profitability is good, our margins are good, so there’s no reason not to be ahead of the game, plus we come from the soil. We’re not doing sustainability just because it’s good for the planet. It’s the only way to guarantee a business for the long‑term; we need it.”

Sustainability is a big part of what luxury means today. It is a term that is forever changing and one that is hard to define. “The luxury of today is not the luxury of 20 years ago,” says Lacave. It is a product of its time, which for Lacave today means “it’s a consequence of high-quality, relevance, being able to tell the story, innovation and sustainability”. These are characteristics LVMH consistently strives for, whether in maintaining its legacy brands or envisioning the future of its acquisitions as it continues to expand, constantly ensuring that doing good and giving back also find their place.

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Topics

Moët-Hennessy LVMH Louis Vuitton Bernard Arnault Jean-Marc Lacave Spirits Drinks Cognac Veuve Clicquot Luxury Sustainability Brandy Whiskey Château Galoupet Wine Tequila Volcan de mi Tierra

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Meet me at the bar: Moët Hennessy’s Jean‑Marc Lacave on the future of LVMH