Interesting new products are being introduced to South Africa to cater to an increasingly sophisticated and discerning population.
When it comes to drinks trends, the genie of choice has burst out of the lamp and there’s no putting it back. This is according to Rowan Liebbrandt of Truman and Orange, a local liquor distributor that focuses on bringing new and interesting drinks brands to South Africa. Today, their brand stable includes labels like Innis and Gunn oak aged beer from Scotland, Malfi gin from Italy and, most recently, Spytail Black Ginger rum from Cognac, France.
For Liebbrandt, the real change in South African drinking habits started with the wine industry 20 years ago. “There was a time when we were all drinking Nederberg,” he says. “Now, we live in a country where we have thousands of fantastic wines available.” So what was the catalyst for this change? Liebbrandt believes that society as a whole is different – both globally and in South Africa. In relative terms, more people have more disposable income than they did 20 years ago, which means they have more to spend on things like entertainment, which includes alcohol. We’ve also become more sophisticated in our tastes, he says, and a more global outlook has birthed a new drinks consumer who demands more interesting products. “As drinkers, we’re having a lot more fun than we ever have before,” he says.
Today, this shift can be seen with other types of liquor too, such as gin, beer and Methode Cap Classique (MCC). Because no one big brand owns the market for those types of liquor, Liebbrandt says the door is wide open for entrepreneurs to experiment.
Tom Savage of Social on Main agrees, saying that people are exploring what they can achieve with food and drinks. “As our societies and communities progress, people are becoming more adventurous and demanding different stuff,” he says. At the same time, he says there’s so much more available that’s much more accessible. “If you go to Spar’s Tops bottle store, you can get a great range of interesting alcohol, whereas before you’d need to go to a specialist bottle store to get it.”
Interestingly, Truman and Orange have found that people gravitate towards drinks brands that have authentic stories behind them. “People want to know where it’s from, who’s making it and why,” Says Liebbrandt, citing the example of Spytail Black Ginger Rum, their most recent import. The brand’s distillery in Cognac is near the River Charente, where some of the world’s first submarines were tested and built. Spytail is named after the famous submarine of the same name; the bottle even resembles the front of one. As Liebbrandt points out, the French have always had a fascination for the deep seas (think Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau), as well as a long rum-making tradition from their Caribbean colonies.
Tom agrees with this need for consumers to have a brand narrative, but for different reasons. “People are edging towards value for money. By getting a story and understanding a product, they’re really getting into the value of it. “
While rum has been traditionally thought of as the poor cousin of other more “sophisticated” spirits like whisky or vodka, it’s seen a resurgence internationally in recent years. In South Africa, rum hasn’t been through this yet, but Liebbrandt says we have a palate for sweeter brown spirits, so the potential is there. Savage feels that this will only start to happen in the next two to three years. “The rum trend is going to take time,” he says. “I feel like we’re only just at the tip of the iceberg.”
Experience for yourself:
- Truman & Orange | rowan@trumanandorange.com
- Social on Main | 011 706 7115 | socialonmain.co.za
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
