The Irish Gin Market -Saturated or Diverse? You decide..
One brand owners take on the growing world of Irish Craft Gin
As a “newbie” gin brand just about one year old, the delight, and sheer innocence of the vast new world I was entering was exciting, filled with possibilities, and held a feeling much like falling in love. Yes. The rose tinted gin glasses where firmly in place. The gin world was my oyster.
But when I say brand, one must remember that “branding” is just one small part of the bigger botanical picture… which is, of course, “distilling”. Both go hand in hand, but distilling is where it all begins. Creating one’s recipe must be built on solid knowledge, experience, and guidance from one of the few Irish Gin Masters. In my case, it was the family of award winning distillers at The Listoke Distillery and Gin School, based in Tenure, Co. Louth, on the east coast of Ireland. A medium sized distillery, with one unique card up their sleeve… a gin school! A place of learning, knowledge, and for me, a team dedicated to taking “brand” focused people like myself, onto the next level of all things botanical.
While every gin brand has a story, a special ingredient, a profile unique to their brand, what I have found is this.. at the end of the day, does your gin taste good? Is your label appealing to the many #ginlovers out there, and most crucially, are you ok to do business with? One of the first lessons I learned, was that besides having realistic goals (which can be slow to realise), I had to ask myself, can I add something positive to the Irish Gin Community, who are a merry band of business professionals, from online shoppers, to my local supermarket and pub?
When all is said and done, we (the Irish Gin folk) are a mighty bunch of creatives, some more expert than others, some a little snazzier looking, and others more experienced. However, all in all, I personally love the diversity. Diversity means more choice, more experiment, and more opportunities! So what’s stopping you? Go ahead #makethegin!
