South Florida, home to industry giant Bacardi U.S.A., has become a magnet for upstart brands and U.S. launches of international products, reports The Miami Herald.
The region is itself a choice cocktail in which to test-market a new drink — a gateway location, a SoBe chic tourist economy, celebrities galore, a wide range of ethnicities and cultures and the headquarters for the top alcoholic beverage distributor in the country.
Consider some of the signs:
– Just a few weeks ago, accompanied by long-haired, mini-skirted models, South Floridian Victor Harvey, a hip-hop artist and sports agent, promoted his new premium vodka, V-Georgia, in his home market.
– In mid-2008, Heritage Brands of Fort Lauderdale rode the ultra-premium vodka trend to market Orzel Vodka, made in Poland, in Miami before expanding into other U.S. regions.
– Leading Edge Brands of Coral Gables introduced Moleca to the U.S. market with a Miami debut in late 2007, hoping the caipirinha, Brazil’s national cocktail, would become the next mojito. Moleca is a premium brand of the rum-like Brazilian spirit cachaça, which puts the punch in a caipirinha.
But for high-energy entrepreneurs like Aleco Azqueta and Brandon Lieb, the dreamy lure of creating the next Grey Goose vodka, Patron tequila or Johnnie Walker whiskey is too tantalizing to pass up.
Azqueta and Lieb, who met at Georgetown University and held marketing positions at Bacardi, founded Coral Gables-based Atlántico Importing Co. in 2008 to introduce their super-premium Dominican dark rum, Ron Atlántico. “It was a dream I always had to go out on my own and have my own company,” said Azqueta, a native of West Palm Beach whose family is part of the Fanjul sugar empire.
The business partners oversee every aspect of production of the artisanal rum in the Dominican Republic, inspecting and initialing every bottle, all of which are labeled by hand. “A start-up brand takes a lot of TLC and needs 100 percent focus. It’s very difficult for a big company to create a new product and nurture it,” Azqueta said. “If you look at the big liquor brands of today, many of them came from entrepreneurs.”
Continue Reading: “Entrepreneurs Shake Up Liquor Industry In South Florida”
Photo by The Miami Herald.