Italians take pride in their national colours, with green, white and red omnipresent from morning to night, but another colour has long been added from South Tyrol to Sicily: a glowing orange when the aperitif hour begins.
Glasses of Aperol Spritz then appear on tables everywhere – ordered by Italians and tourists alike.
The dolce vita drink has for many years been the clear number one in its home country, even though a new trend cocktail is declared at the start of each summer. Hugo, Pomello, Select and others have never come close to Aperol's popularity, though its detractors say the drink is too sweet and sticky for a bitter liqueur.
Many are clearly making good money from it. Eurochange, the travel money retailer owned by Western Union, publishes an annual Aperol Spritz Index, showing euro and US dollar costs for the cheapest and most expensive spritzes.
Once again, Milan hit the top spot, where an Aperol Spritz at the Aperol Terrazza, including stunning views of the Duomo di Milano, will run you €20 (RM94). The aperitivo in Rome is a close second, where the drink will set you back €14 (RM66).
But Italy is also home to the cheapest Aperol Spritz – found in Naples, where the drink costs just €2 (RM9.20) on average – and you can drink it while eating some of the world's best pizza.
The only thing is that in many places the original is no longer being poured. That has prompted the Campari Group, which owns the brand, to act.
"We are seeing that bars and restaurants are serving orange drinks, often from the tap, that are not necessarily made with Aperol," complained Andrea Neri, managing director of the aperitif division.
The group, which along with its namesake and Aperol also owns Wild Turkey and several whiskey and cognac brands including Courvoisier, posted net sales of €3.05bil (RM14.32bil) in 2025. Aperol accounted for €785mil (RM3.687bil) or 26% of total group sales.To protect its most important brand in a fiercely contested market, the Campari Group launched its first "loyalty programme".
After starting in Padua, where Aperol was invented in 1919 by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, more than 2,000 bars and restaurants are taking part in the programme "Aperol Spritz: L'originale".
The hosts guarantee that Aperol is actually used in their Aperol Spritz, which is made from three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda water, plus ice and an orange slice. In return, they receive promotional material, training for bartenders and a certificate for the front door. The drink's exact recipe of bitter oranges and herbs remains secret.
The name Spritz stems from the 19th century, when Austrian soldiers found the wine in Veneto too strong and diluted it with water, in other words "spritzed" it. That can also be done with other alcohol but since Campari took over Aperol in 2003, the Italian drink has become the most popular aperitif in many countries.
The orange colour looks especially good in photos, including on TikTok and Instagram.
Campari has for some time been taking legal action internationally against misuse of its protected brand. The EU Intellectual Property Office ruled that another bitter drink may not be called "Aperbitter".
But that has not prevented discounters like Aldi and Lidl from marketing their own brands, such as Apice or Bitterol, at half the price.
"The presence of products inspired by Aperol is primarily confirmation of the success of the category, to the creation and development of which we have contributed over the years," Neri says.
For people who want to combine brand loyalty with a good deal, there is a solution, at least if they spend their summer holiday in Italy. Buy Aperol in its native country and take it home.
The standard one litre bottle is significantly cheaper in Italy than in many parts of Europe. – dpa
