VODKA
John Reynolds, Niall O'Dwyer, Pippa O'Connor, Shane Davey - Sugarloaf Beverages
In the
AS ISTIL 38 BEGINS TO MAKE ITS MARK, SUGARLOAF BEVERAGES MD SHANE DAVEY TALKS ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF LAUNCHING A NEW VODKA IN THE IRISH MARKET and new product development is around Absolut Vodka so it wasn’t a goer, although at the time I remember it was considered a good idea. It was always in the back of my mind. During Covid, I went for a walk with Niall O'Dwyer and we were talking about the huge demand for Irish products and for the Irish gin and whiskey that we sell and yet we’ve nothing in the vodka category, which is the biggest selling category in Ireland. From that conversation, it just ballooned.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE LAUNCH OF ISTIL 38. WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE VODKA COME FROM? It was an idea that I had years ago. My background is in Irish Distillers and Diageo and when I worked in Diageo, we launched Gordon’s Pink Gin which was obviously very successful. I remember working in Irish Distillers and saying, there’s no reason why a pink vodka wouldn’t work. It’s slightly sweeter, it's a little bit more feminine and it looks good in the glass. Irish Distillers is owned by Pernod Ricard
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? I was working at Irish Distillers at the time and mindful of any conflict of interest so John Reynolds and Niall O'Dwyer, now co-directors at Sugarloaf Beverages, took the idea and ran with it. I helped them at weekends, knowing that my role at Irish Distillers was probably going to change in the near future. That was well over a year ago and since then, it’s been all about getting the design and the name right. The name went
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