The Joseph Cartron story

History

In 1882, Joseph Cartron established his eponymously named company in Nuits-Saint-Georges as a supplier of products from lemonades and soda waters to liqueurs such as prunella, maraschino, cacao and kummel. However, right from the outset, what was then called "Double Crème de Cassis Cartron" was the most important product.

Joseph had no children and he left his company to his brother Armand, who in turn passes on to his son Henri. Henri, who died in 1949, was one of the seven founders of the "Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin" in 1934, he was also Mayor of Nuits-Saint-George during the war.

Armand, Henri's son, joined the company in the 1930s an quickly made an impact and then managed the company from 1940 to 1985. He stopped the wholesale activity and the production of lemonade in order to concentrate on the development of liqueurs and spirits targeted at both the French and international markets. He established Cartron in the French retail market while also developing the brand in Canada, Japan, Luxemburg, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the United States.

It is during Armand's management that the buildings were enlarged to accommodate mechanized bottling. He was a creative man with a very fine nose and palate, attributes he used to developed the range of products, including N° 7, the seventh trial of a liqueur made from a blend the red berries of Burgundy. He meticulously recorded his recipes in note books that are jealously kept by the company to this day.

The unicorns

A lover of art and literature and a friend of the surrealists, in the early 1930s, Armand designed a coat of arms with two unicorns to represent the company.
The unicorn, very dear to Dali, is both a heraldic figure symbol of virtue, nobility,
femininity and purity that figures on numerous coats of arms since the 17th
century. The unicorn is also an emblematic figure of Burgundy and features in the tapestry La Dame à la Licorne at the Cluny Museum.

Development

Armand was able to be so creative thanks to his nephew, Thierry Chevignard, who managed the company, from production through to sales. Together, Thierry and Armand sets up a network of distribution agents across France and reorientated the company towards top end restaurants and wine merchant. A network still active today.

In 1990, After graduating from HEC (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales) and 22 year career in finance, Xavier Cartron followed his father to take over management of the family business.

He launched a vast modernisation program for production and developed a selective and offensive distribution strategy in France and the international market. Export development flourished.

Family management being part of the DNA of the Joseph Cartron Company, it was natural that Xavier would hand over management to his daughter Judith in 2011.

Judith Cartron

After an established career in Paris, at the age of 38, Judith Cartron returned to Burgundy to join the family business. She gradually assumed management of the company aided by her father over a 4 year transition period.

Since July 2011, Judith Cartron has been President of the Joseph Cartron Company and represents the fifth generation of distiller liquorists.