UK-based mixers producer Double Dutch is pushing forward with expansion with a launch into markets in Latin America.
Speaking to Just Drinks at the BCB London trade show yesterday (30 June), co-founder Joyce de Haas said the company’s products were heading to Panama, Chile, Argentina and “potentially Brazil” as the group is “shifting away from the US”.
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“Containers have just left the UK and will arrive in the next couple of weeks,” she said.
The business has partnered with spirits distributor Disc to launch in the region.
De Haas said the business had intended to launch in the US in April but decided to focus on other regions due to the current uncertain environment.
“The climate is so difficult, so we’d rather just focus our efforts and energy on, like, markets that are just slightly easier in terms of exporting there,” she said.
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By GlobalData“If you win there [the US], it’s amazing, but it’s so risky at the moment. You don’t know what’s happening and we don’t even know what pricing to put on a shelf if we don’t know what the tariffs are going to be. At the moment, we just said there’s so much more of the world to take over than necessarily the US.”
Double Dutch was founded in 2015 by Dutch twins Joyce and Raissa de Haas, who are also the company’s majority shareholders.
Aside from its domestic market, the UK, the group also sells to Europe, the Caribbean, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.
When asked why Double Dutch had decided to enter Latin America, de Haas said the region was seeing “premiumisation in both spirits and also in in general”.
She added: “The metropolitan cities now are just really booming and you have lots of young people that want to do something different than looking at the US. I think it’s a really good time to jump in there.
“Now we have a range that kind of fits very well with cachaça and with mezcal and with Tequila, so it’s a natural fit. And then seeing that hospitality is really premiumising, so that sits exactly in our alley, so it makes a lot of sense.”
Double Dutch’s mixers range is made up of 12 flavours, including pomegranate and basil, ginger beer, cucumber and watermelon, and cranberry and ginger. Its drinks are sold in 200ml, 500ml bottles and 50ml cans.
Across its markets, the company has a small presence in retail and a larger focus on selling through the on-trade.
“Brands are being built in the on-trade and we are very much an experience brand,” said de Haas.
“If you drink Double Dutch, it’s all about social gatherings, having fun – like double the energy, double the fun. I think launching within on-trade makes it easier to bring that experience to consumers.
“Then, once consumers really know Double Dutch and like drinking it in their favourite bars, in beautiful hotels… then it’s time to go into retail and they can enjoy it at home as well. But I think we first need to really get a brand experience within the on-trade.”
Double Dutch products are manufactured in the Lake District in the UK. The group also has a subsidiary in Belgium, which manages the warehouse it uses for European distribution.
