A NEW distribution deal is set to open new opportunities in France for a Jersey rum.
Shorts Boy Distillery – which makes Tidal Rum by blending aged Caribbean spirits with the rare seaweed Pepper Dulse, harvested around the Jersey coastline – has agreed a partnership with established distributor Vintage Spirit Garage.
Harry Coulthard, who started the venture in 2019 with Jersey-born business partner Ben Clyde-Smith while the duo were students at Manchester University, said the intention was to grow the brand in France beyond its existing foothold in the north.
“We’ve already been selling Tidal Rum in Brittany and Normandy, which was an obvious starting point geographically and that helped us start the conversation,” he said. “We were able to show the rate of sale we’d achieved with our original French stockists and that showed the potential there was for growth nationwide with Vintage Spirit Garage.
“They have a passion for spirits and a deep understanding of the French market – this includes supplying some of the leading cocktail bars in Paris, but also a presence in other parts of the country.”
Thierry Richard, founder of Vintage Spirit Garage, said Tidal Rum had “a great respect for nature, just like on the coast in Jersey”, and offered consumers the chance to “breathe in” the Island’s sea spray, wind and salt.
Gaining a wider distribution network in France forms part of Shorts Boy’s expansion on the continent, which has seen the rum available through stockists in Germany, Portugal, Greece, Sweden and Austria, working with Fero, an established global distribution company.
Tidal Rum was also involved in promotional activity at Bar Convent Berlin, one of the leading hospitality events in Europe, and the Spirit of Christmas Fair at Olympia in London, and is also sold in the UK by online retailer Ocado.
The next focus for the brand, which is available at selected outlets in Jersey through a partnership with Love Wine, is the BBC Good Food Show taking place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham across the last four days of November.
