MARKETING – BRAND BUILDER: Mix Master

Charles Rolls, ex-MD of Plymouth Gin, felt compelled to create a range of top-end mixers for top quality spirits. In so doing he created a new category which already has its imitators. Fionnuala Synnott reports

Just over a year ago, Charles Rolls began building the Fever-Tree brand from nothing more than a conviction that it is a crime to mix premium spirits with mass-market mixers. His experience as MD of Plymouth Gin had led him to become frustrated with poor standard tonic water, which spoiled gin distillers’ best efforts to produce a premium gin.
“We took care crafting Plymouth but had to use overpowering, cloying mixers during tastings as that was all that was on the market. Once these mixers were added to the gin, you couldn’t tell whether it was Tanqueray or Plymouth.” Tonic served in the on-trade was no better. “Gun tonic is a weapon of mass destruction that will kill any drink,” says Rolls.

Range building
Following the success of its flagship product, an all-natural Indian tonic water, the company created a bitter lemon drink that was far removed from “the lurid, blue-tinged drinks that taste of soapflakes” already on the market. Rolls also launched a ginger ale in May this year made from three different types of ginger.

“Our consumers want ginger ale made from ginger, not coloured lemonade,” says Rolls. “We went to extraordinary lengths to get hold of the fresh green ginger that gives the drink a lime-lifted note.”

Fever-Tree has capitalised on consumers’ seemingly insatiable desire for premium goods and has also benefited from the current interest in natural and organic products. The brand name reflects the company’s focus on sourcing natural ingredients. Fever tree is the colloquial term used to refer to the Peruvian chinchona tree, whose bright green bark produces natural quinine. Fever-Tree products do not contain saccharin and Rolls is fierce in his condemnation of this additive. “Saccharin is a known carcinogen but companies get away with using it by putting it on the list of ingredients in the smallest possible print,” he says.

Rolling out 
Fever-Tree has drawn interest from the on- and off-trade alike and appears to have taken on a life of its own. Rolls was planning to go the traditional distributor’s route in Spain until he was approached by Ferran Adrià of the famous El Bulli restaurant. The chef now uses the company’s tonic water to produce dish number 20 of his 36-course tasting menu – sopa de tonica (gin and tonic frozen soup served with diced orange peel and rose petals). Rolls flew the first delivery (he is a keen flyer) to the restaurant in order to sample it in person.

Fever-Tree products are also served in The Fat Duck, Hakkasan, Roast, The Ebury, Loungelover, The River Café, Claridge’s and The Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, to name but a few. Rolls feels that Fever-Tree has reached a tipping-point. “We receive a number of enquiries every day from members of the on-trade,” he says. In fact, the company is about to launch a soda water following demand from bartenders. In the off-trade, the Fever-Tree range is listed in Waitrose, Oddbins, Fresh & Wild, Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Selfridges and, most recently, Majestic.

It is not just the contents that matter, the look of the bottle is also important. Rolls learned about the importance of packaging and its influence on brand image while working on Plymouth Gin. He explains, “Once people have bought into the Fever-Tree brand they will be proud to show it off.” The mixers are sold in 200ml single-serve glass bottles, following consumer feedback.

But, at £2.99 for a four-pack (twice the price of market-leading Schweppes), Fever-Tree isn’t cheap. In fact, cost was one of Rolls’s main concerns when launching the brand. But this fear has been dispelled by the positive reception the brand has had. Based on the current rate of sale, Rolls hopes the company will produce “well over 100,000 cases” (24 x 200ml) over the next 12 months, while its turnover this year, from a standing start in June 2005, should be over half a million pounds.

Category creation
With the figures looking so positive, it is only a matter of time before others seek to replicate Fever-Tree products and move into what Rolls dubs “a new category”. In fact, he knows of at least two companies that are trying to imitate Fever-Tree drinks, but he is not concerned. “They can copy the idea but we’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to produce the best quality product possible,” he says.

In fact, the barriers to entry are high. Sourcing quality products and establishing a reliable supply chain is not easy. It took Fever-Tree over a year to develop each product and, lacking the huge marketing budgets of the likes of Schweppes, Fever-Tree has relied upon word of mouth as well as the endorsement of top bars and restaurants and premium gin brands such as Hendrick’s, Martin Miller’s Gin, Tanqueray and of course Plymouth Gin, to build its brand.

But there are still some challenges ahead including the speed with which to grow the business. Rolls comments, “There will always be a section of the market that will support us while other laggards won’t take it up. Some members
of the on-trade won’t stock a new product until the majority of consumers demand it.”

Rolls is philosophical about the company’s growth and is clearly passionate about additive-free mixers. “If nothing else, I’ll go to bar heaven,” he says.

© db December 2006 / Fionnuala Synnott