Lower calorie ‘juniper-infused’ spirit launched

New spirits range LoCa, founded by a 26-year-old entrepreneur, has launched its first product – a lower calorie, low abv “juniper-infused spirit” called Minus 33.

Not classified as gin due to its lower strength abv, the spirit is the result of a partnership between LoCa Bev, founded by Sam Trett, and branding and design agency Good.

Created by Trett as an “alternative to traditional spirits”, the 33% abv spirit claims to carry almost one third fewer calories per serving than many other major brands of gin.

Designed by Good, who have a 10% stake in the company, each label features Trett’s signature, a feature that is in line with a continuing trend among spirits brands for an authentic, handcrafted aesthetic.

“LoCa’s mission, reflected in its first product launch Minus 33, is genuinely different – and Minus 33 is a stand out brand offering something genuinely new to the market – merging traditional flavours with modern development and distillation techniques to create something really unique”, said Keith Forbes, founding partner at Good. “The brand challenge here was for us to create something in LoCa that could stand the test of time – flexible enough to be home to a range of great products over the coming years. And in Minus 33, we needed to reflect the huge amounts of innovation behind the liquid in a simple, accessible way.”

Sam Trett, founder, LoCa Bev, added: “We have an unusual message to communicate – we are not a gin – we’re offering something better than that – but Good has met this challenge head on with a product that makes sense in all elements of design.”

Minus 33 is available at select bars across the UK as well as in independent stockists and via locabev.com. Larger retailers, including Fortnum and Masons and Harvey Nicholls, will stock the product from September.