Sherwin and Tim, Co-Founders of Tarsier Spirits, discuss their journey of starting a craft gin brand that focuses on authentic Southeast Asian flavours and its representation of Filipino heritage – hence the name ‘Tarsier’, a small primate native to the region.
In this episode, we explore strategic distinctiveness, building a brand on a startup budget, and overcoming the challenges in the industry of finding the right partnerships and collaborations that fit your brand values. Overall, their journey emphasises the value of trusting your instincts, being ok with continuous improvement and iterative design, and the absolute criticality of authenticity in creating a unique and successful brand.
01:25 Filling the Gap in the Gin Market
03:11 The Importance of the Tarsier Emblem
04:19 Giving Back to Conservation
06:37 The Process of Starting a Business
10:58 Learning about Gin Distillation
12:26 Building the Brand on a Startup Budget
14:39 The Importance of Authenticity
20:56 Selecting the Right Distributors
27:10 Differentiating Tarsier from Competitors
28:30 The Evolution of Tarsier’s Branding and Packaging
32:23 Considerations for Packaging Design
36:22 Lessons Learned from Packaging Iterations
42:25 Sustainability in Packaging
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Good afternoon.
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It’s sort of no, it’s
good morning to Sherwin
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and Tim, co-founders of Tarsier Spirits.
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A very successful Brand.
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Thank you both for
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blessing us with your company
and I know you’re extremely busy,
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especially coming out of Chinese
New Year.
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A busy period
for you and your customers.
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So I really appreciate you
taking some time out
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to speak to us and sharing your story.
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First question, which will
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hopefully be a really easy one, is
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at the very essence of Tarsier Spirits,
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what is it that you’re trying to do?
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So we actually started in 2018
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just coming up to 6 years now.
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And when it all started,
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we just saw a big gap in the gin
category.
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There were a lot of craft
gins around at that time.
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And not coming through.
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But nobody really focusing on
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authentic Southeast Asian flavours.
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Despite Thai food, Vietnamese food
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being so popular all around the world.
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Nobody really going into that sort
of flavour palette
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So we thought, why not do it ourselves?
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Right. Okay. So we are.
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You’re absolutely right, Craft.
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I think the craft gin
market is bustling, but there is
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perhaps it got to a point
where is a lot of me to sort of stuff
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out in the market and Southeast Asian
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flavours coming through
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you. Right.
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Is a complete, complete differentiator.
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So the flavourings.
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I was going to add as well,
that obviously
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the craft and gin market,
the gin category
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has always been looked at
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as, you know, British and Dutch.
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But if you I don’t know if you know
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which country actually drinks
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the most gin in the world
in terms of volume?
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I mean, I have an inkling when.
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In the Philippines, 43%
of the global volume.
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So, you know, there’s an exact which.
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I’m shocked by,
to be absolutely honest by.
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I’m so shocked by that
because I think, San Miguel,
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being half Filipino myself,
having the experience
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that I do, which is very limited,
unfortunately.
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But I would of thought it was beer
the entire way through.
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Exactly. Which shocks me.
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No, I as a Filipino,
wanting to represent
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my heritage
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within that space, especially with gin.
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And we needed to,
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put a front together to that,
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you know, represents,
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I guess, our place within the category.
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And that’s why we that part of
the reason that we started this as well.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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No it’s brilliant.
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And I, that was one of my questions is
why did we pick gin.
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Right. And you’re absolutely right.
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Philippines
is the hugest market coming across.
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When I was delving
into some of this research,
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it came across in the 1830s.
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It’s really become popularised by,
you know,
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San Miguel, which all of a sudden
started to make sense to me.
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But very much old school gin, right?
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High proof.
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Very much strong flavours.
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So the nascent gin
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that we understand
it to be out in market
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but that I think you
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hit the nail on the head around
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starting
and writing from your Filipino heritage.
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And I’m guessing there’s some alignment
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with Tarsiers
and the Filipino heritage there.
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I don’t think many people would know
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what that animal is.
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But you’ve
you’ve thought it was so important
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to name your entire company around it.
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Can you tell us a bit
more about Tarsiers and why
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Why is that
become the emblem of Tarsier Spirits?
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One of the smallest primates
in the world, it’s
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native Southeast Asia.
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So certainly in the Philippines
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you see them on the Island of Bohol.
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They’ve got great
localised populations as well.
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So they tend to just congregate around
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a couple of areas,
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which is actually quite bad
for their survival
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because if they are affected
by things like deforestation,
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being stolen from the wild
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because they are really cute
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little creatures.
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All of this affects their populations,
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and they have been declining,
they are endangered.
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I think there’s only about 5000 left.
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So we thought, well,
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let’s do something to give back
with this brand.
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And let’s do something focused
on the Philippines, focused on Asia,
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because that’s
where we got our inspiration from.
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And the task is kind of summed up
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what we were when we started
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this really small batch gin
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just trying to fight our way
in the jungle
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against all these big predator brands
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all the big established brands.
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And it just seemed like
such a cool idea to
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to be this little brand
just trying to make their way.
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And also,
they’re such an icon in the Philippines.
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You know, they’re on the money,
they’re on the T-shirts.
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So, you know, every Filipino,
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you know what Tarsier is.
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But if you go outside the Philippines
or if you go outside Indonesia,
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if you go outside Malaysia, not
many people have heard about them.
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And and so what we wanted to do
is to kind of
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like what I’m saying
is the represent, I guess our,
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you know, our brand in a way that it,
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you know, gives back to the region
that inspired us, but also
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kind of, you know, what is
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so iconic to the Philippines
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that we can also, that would represent us
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but also we went to the sanctuary
and learned about them.
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So that’s why you know, the
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the conservation part of the brand
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that’s important to us.
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So, yeah, 10%
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10% of the profits that we make, we
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donate to the conservation projects,
starting with the Tarsier
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Philippines Tarsier Foundation.
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We’re looking to expand that to
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to other conservation projects in the future.
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Oh fab. Oh fab
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And and I think that’s it from
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from knowing Philippines from knowing
of course
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some of the islands I’m from Wasana
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Bohol is right across the water
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and you understand that
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also Philippines is still
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it’s it’s
on the cusp of becoming the Thailand
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getting the infrastructure
and a lot of people,
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particularly from the West,
probably still don’t
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haven’t discovered
the beauties that Philippines offers.
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And the wildlife is so unique.
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And I think that the spirit of Tarsier
Spirits is really putting out
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in the platform, getting people curious,
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getting people interested in.
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And I think this fits in
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with the wider movement
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of more representation of Philippines
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in spirits in general.
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I feel like there’s an emerging movement
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and Tarsier Spirits
has really played a part in that.
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So you’ve mentioned
that your brand with purpose,
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that is clearly core to your values
as a business.
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Do you feel like that’s
what came first is
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we need to do something here and
and actually,
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what can we do to support
with this business?
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Or was it more
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there’s a
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there’s an opportunity here
with these flavours.
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And the umami that I think
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is always affiliated with with food
is there is
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that was at the pull first and actually
there was some synergies to be had.
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And they all came about
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prior to this great
shopping around the Philippines.
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Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand
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I mean, that was my first trip
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out to that part of the world,
obviously Sherwin was born there
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So he was more familiar
with those flavours
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and it just kind of blew me away
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the complexity of flavour, but
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also the kind of innate ability
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of the people over there to just
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combine flavours in
such a way that it’s just simple
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ingredients, simple cooking techniques, but
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an explosion of flavour,
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and that’s what we wanted to take forward
with our gins
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and then the conservation
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side of things that came in tandem
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as we were deciding on the brand
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and trying to come up with an identity,
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it all kind of fit into place
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because we saw the Tarsiers
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at the sanctuary on our trip.
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So everything we’ve done
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kind of goes back to that
that backpacking trip that we took
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and the brand
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that’s been built based on our experiences
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of going around Asia.
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But also I want to I want to add as well
that during our trip
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we actually were part of this
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kind of,
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I guess, tour
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in on the islands of Palawan.
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There was
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a couple that we
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that we met who set up
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this business called Taal Philippines
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and from there
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we kind of thought, well, you know what,
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you can actually set up a business,
but then give back to the communities.
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And what they were doing was
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the tour was giving back 20% of their
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income to the local communities
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within the islands like that
they were visiting.
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And I thought that that’s such
that gave me such
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an inspiration,
that gives such an inspiration to
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to start a business
that has actually got a purpose.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And for someone who I’ve started
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my career in social enterprise as well,
it feels like that
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model to stands
is a sustainable model in itself.
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Business.
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You’re not relying on people’s
donations, but you’re actually building
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income for such a worthy cause.
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And you can you can have the choice to
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to share that
with with these foundations.
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So I think it’s brilliant work
that you’re doing.
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But let’s, let’s face it
that the idea of starting a business
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and the actual
doing of starting a business
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is incredibly brave.
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I think it’s there’s a lot to it.
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Like how do you get
from starting an idea
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to making it a reality?
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What sort of process
did you have to go through?
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Well to begin with we had to see to learn about
gin distillation
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because we were coming at this with it,
with no technical knowledge.
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It was just an idea
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and every approach we’ve taken
has been
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Self-led, so we could have gone to
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a consultant and said,
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right, make us a gin. Gone to
a design agency,
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design us a brand
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We did it all ourselves.
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So it took a long, a lot longer
than it would have otherwise,
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but it came from a much more kind
of authentic place of self
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and it was translating our experiences
of our travels
241
00:10:57,541 –> 00:11:00,458
into the liquids,
into the bottle design.
242
00:11:01,083 –> 00:11:02,583
So the first step was
243
00:11:02,583 –> 00:11:04,958
well, let’s just see
if this is actually viable.
244
00:11:05,458 –> 00:11:07,958
Can we make a gin using Asian
245
00:11:07,958 –> 00:11:09,958
botanicals that tastes really good
246
00:11:10,375 –> 00:11:13,083
because if you don’t
have a good liquid, then
247
00:11:14,125 –> 00:11:16,125
it’s just going to fall flat.
248
00:11:16,208 –> 00:11:18,000
So that was three years.
249
00:11:18,000 –> 00:11:19,166
That’s three years on and off
250
00:11:19,166 –> 00:11:21,291
for just recipe development,
251
00:11:21,291 –> 00:11:23,291
learning about distillation
252
00:11:23,791 –> 00:11:24,416
and doing it all
253
00:11:24,416 –> 00:11:26,416
Self-taught.
254
00:11:26,500 –> 00:11:28,500
So we got to the point where
255
00:11:28,750 –> 00:11:31,166
we got to the point where after trying
256
00:11:31,875 –> 00:11:34,250
I think it’s about 65 different iterations
257
00:11:34,250 –> 00:11:36,333
on our friends, the first of which
258
00:11:37,583 –> 00:11:39,000
weren’t very good
259
00:11:39,000 –> 00:11:42,000
But we got to a point, to put it mildly.
260
00:11:42,416 –> 00:11:44,416
It didn’t even resemble gin to be honest.
261
00:11:44,958 –> 00:11:48,416
But eventually we got to a point
where we thought,
262
00:11:48,500 –> 00:11:50,541
hold on, I think we’ve got something here?
263
00:11:50,625 –> 00:11:52,625
We’ve got something
that tastes totally different
264
00:11:52,625 –> 00:11:54,250
because that is the other thing
that’s really important to us.
265
00:11:54,250 –> 00:11:57,250
We didn’t want to release a gin
266
00:11:57,250 –> 00:12:00,791
that tastes very traditional
and it’s just got an Asian
267
00:12:00,833 –> 00:12:04,791
botanical in it, that wasn’t authentic
to what we’re trying to do.
268
00:12:05,625 –> 00:12:07,958
So this needed to taste totally different to
269
00:12:07,958 –> 00:12:11,375
Anything else out there
while still being tasty while still being gin
270
00:12:12,458 –> 00:12:13,750
And as I say, it
271
00:12:13,750 –> 00:12:15,750
took three years to get to that point.
272
00:12:16,041 –> 00:12:18,708
And when we did then
it was kind of the scary bit.
273
00:12:18,708 –> 00:12:20,625
Then it’s like, right, okay
274
00:12:20,625 –> 00:12:22,625
we now need to
275
00:12:23,000 –> 00:12:26,166
somehow set up a distillery,
buy the equipment
276
00:12:26,875 –> 00:12:29,458
come up with a brand, and release this
277
00:12:30,041 –> 00:12:32,416
all on an incredibly limited budget.
278
00:12:33,541 –> 00:12:35,291
So I think we
279
00:12:35,291 –> 00:12:36,625
See I told you scary.
280
00:12:36,625 –> 00:12:40,333
I think we did
we started with about £15,000
281
00:12:40,333 –> 00:12:42,833
loan by a government backed
start up loan
282
00:12:43,916 –> 00:12:47,375
and yeah
just start from a very small base
283
00:12:48,041 –> 00:12:49,625
we were in the back of a pub
284
00:12:49,625 –> 00:12:52,791
with a 60 litre copper Olympic still
285
00:12:53,708 –> 00:12:55,791
producing tiny amounts at a time
286
00:12:57,291 –> 00:12:59,041
but it was a place to start.
287
00:12:59,041 –> 00:13:01,041
And we’ve just built it from there.
288
00:13:01,583 –> 00:13:03,583
I feel like that’s,
289
00:13:03,708 –> 00:13:06,500
I don’t know, a sign of the times
that we have access to
290
00:13:06,500 –> 00:13:09,750
so much information that we can self
teach, that we can become
291
00:13:10,833 –> 00:13:13,125
self-made through our own learning.
292
00:13:13,833 –> 00:13:16,583
I feel like becoming a distiller.
293
00:13:16,583 –> 00:13:18,958
There is no one route
in the amount of stories
294
00:13:18,958 –> 00:13:22,416
we’ve heard from different interviews
that we’ve done through this podcast.
295
00:13:22,416 –> 00:13:24,416
It’s just really interesting to see
296
00:13:25,083 –> 00:13:27,000
such different routes in
297
00:13:27,000 –> 00:13:30,166
and and that access you talked about,
I mean,
298
00:13:30,416 –> 00:13:32,250
this authenticity is really strong.
299
00:13:32,250 –> 00:13:34,541
It comes through in your
and your website.
300
00:13:34,541 –> 00:13:36,583
It’s how you talk about Tarsier
Spirits
301
00:13:36,833 –> 00:13:39,083
Why do you think it’s so important?
302
00:13:39,500 –> 00:13:41,333
I mean, you mentioned on a website it’s
303
00:13:41,333 –> 00:13:45,000
your work has been completely done by
you was important
304
00:13:45,000 –> 00:13:48,666
that you’ve got that flavour palette
you are craft through and through.
305
00:13:48,666 –> 00:13:50,833
You’re you’ve never outsourced anything.
306
00:13:51,291 –> 00:13:53,291
Why is that
307
00:13:53,333 –> 00:13:56,250
such an important pull for Tarsier?
308
00:13:56,750 –> 00:13:58,416
Because we want to,
309
00:13:58,416 –> 00:14:00,416
as I said, kind of touched on earlier,
310
00:14:00,958 –> 00:14:02,458
we didn’t want to
311
00:14:03,500 –> 00:14:05,875
have a token nod towards Asia.
312
00:14:06,291 –> 00:14:08,916
We didn’t want to make
a British gin with
313
00:14:10,125 –> 00:14:11,916
a little bit ginger in there
314
00:14:11,916 –> 00:14:15,416
or a little bit of lemongrass.
315
00:14:15,416 –> 00:14:17,083
So that yeah, that’s.
316
00:14:17,083 –> 00:14:20,000
Another classic Asian flavour, and
partly because
317
00:14:20,000 –> 00:14:22,500
we’ve seen that being done
in the industry
318
00:14:23,541 –> 00:14:27,750
and for us
having these having experience
319
00:14:27,750 –> 00:14:30,166
some of the most amazing foods,
we thought there’s
320
00:14:30,208 –> 00:14:33,833
so much more to Asia
than just lemongrass and ginger.
321
00:14:34,416 –> 00:14:36,166
And so we’re really offering
322
00:14:36,166 –> 00:14:37,041
is, you know, it
323
00:14:37,041 –> 00:14:39,708
we’re not even scratching the surface
of what we’re offering at the minute.
324
00:14:39,708 –> 00:14:42,250
There’s a lot more flavours
that we could offer.
325
00:14:42,750 –> 00:14:45,291
But yeah, like
obviously you have to kind of
326
00:14:45,708 –> 00:14:48,500
commercialise it at some point,
you know, so.
327
00:14:49,125 –> 00:14:50,000
Well, that’s exciting.
328
00:14:50,000 –> 00:14:52,166
So that just means
this future releases is coming up.
329
00:14:53,208 –> 00:14:55,208
Now we can just all guess what’s next.
330
00:14:55,250 –> 00:14:57,250
So yeah, it’s about
331
00:14:58,166 –> 00:14:59,458
doing Asia proud as well
332
00:14:59,458 –> 00:15:01,166
I think
333
00:15:01,166 –> 00:15:03,166
we wanted a gin.
334
00:15:03,416 –> 00:15:07,208
That would be served in
some of the top venues, some of the top
335
00:15:07,666 –> 00:15:09,875
bars, hotels, restaurants in Asia
336
00:15:10,375 –> 00:15:12,375
that they’d be proud to serve
337
00:15:13,041 –> 00:15:14,625
that they would think right.
338
00:15:14,625 –> 00:15:15,750
Yeah absolutely.
339
00:15:15,750 –> 00:15:18,375
You guys have taken our flavours and
340
00:15:18,375 –> 00:15:21,083
actually done something pretty cool
with them.
341
00:15:21,083 –> 00:15:21,541
Yeah.
342
00:15:21,541 –> 00:15:24,833
And also the thing is you know if you’re
going to start a brand and if you can
343
00:15:25,250 –> 00:15:28,083
yeah obviously with the whole gin boom
344
00:15:28,541 –> 00:15:32,375
everyone kind of just went into that
and you know there’s loads of brands
345
00:15:32,375 –> 00:15:34,708
that have got money that we’re able to
346
00:15:34,708 –> 00:15:36,958
just then call a contract distiller
347
00:15:36,958 –> 00:15:38,250
to say, look, make me a brand.
348
00:15:38,250 –> 00:15:39,791
This is what I’m thinking.
349
00:15:39,791 –> 00:15:42,500
Put it together just to kind of,
I guess right away.
350
00:15:42,958 –> 00:15:44,833
But for us it’s more about where.
351
00:15:44,833 –> 00:15:47,375
Okay, so having come from
352
00:15:48,666 –> 00:15:49,583
the drinks industry,
353
00:15:49,583 –> 00:15:51,625
working for giants like Diageo
354
00:15:51,625 –> 00:15:53,625
did give you an understanding of
355
00:15:54,000 –> 00:15:56,000
how you know, what what
356
00:15:56,000 –> 00:15:59,458
what the spirits category is like
and what happens that
357
00:15:59,458 –> 00:16:02,500
we wanted to look at the gin category
and say, what’s actually missing?
358
00:16:02,541 –> 00:16:04,541
What do we actually expect?
359
00:16:04,708 –> 00:16:07,875
Because there’s no point in
just bringing a brand
360
00:16:07,875 –> 00:16:10,125
that is just a replica
361
00:16:10,125 –> 00:16:12,125
of other brands out there.
362
00:16:12,291 –> 00:16:15,041
And we wanted a bottle that, that
363
00:16:15,583 –> 00:16:17,125
you know, sits in the category
364
00:16:17,125 –> 00:16:19,166
to say, this is Southeast Asia.
365
00:16:19,291 –> 00:16:24,041
This is what’s representative
of the flavours of Southeast Asia. Yes.
366
00:16:24,041 –> 00:16:25,875
You have Japanese brands.
367
00:16:25,875 –> 00:16:28,916
Yes, You have our
you know, British brands
368
00:16:28,916 –> 00:16:32,125
that represent Britain
or the locality in Britain.
369
00:16:32,125 –> 00:16:35,250
But there’s nothing
that was screaming out,
370
00:16:35,291 –> 00:16:37,291
you know, and
371
00:16:37,500 –> 00:16:39,958
the flavours of Cambodia, Philippines,
372
00:16:39,958 –> 00:16:43,833
Thailand, Vietnam,
and that’s what we wanted to do with
373
00:16:44,125 –> 00:16:46,375
The British release of Southeast
Asian dry.
374
00:16:47,333 –> 00:16:48,291
Yeah, absolutely.
375
00:16:48,291 –> 00:16:50,875
And and particularly that flagship
376
00:16:50,875 –> 00:16:53,333
release was bringing ingredients
377
00:16:53,333 –> 00:16:55,708
that some or most people
wouldn’t even have heard of.
378
00:16:55,708 –> 00:16:58,916
So you’re talking about like calamansi
everyone’s like,
379
00:16:58,916 –> 00:17:02,166
It was actually interesting, Lianne
like we were going into a trade show
380
00:17:02,166 –> 00:17:04,500
and bringing out the calamansi
381
00:17:04,875 –> 00:17:06,541
that we use in our distillation.
382
00:17:06,541 –> 00:17:07,875
And people were thinking, What is that?
383
00:17:07,875 –> 00:17:10,375
Is that an olive? And then that.
384
00:17:12,458 –> 00:17:13,083
You really.
385
00:17:13,083 –> 00:17:15,666
Like, well I never seen that,
that what is it?
386
00:17:15,666 –> 00:17:18,000
And so part of our brand
387
00:17:18,000 –> 00:17:20,750
is about education as well
That’s interesting.
388
00:17:20,875 –> 00:17:22,875
And you’ve talked about your,
your background.
389
00:17:22,875 –> 00:17:26,250
Sherwin And you’ve like you
said, you’ve worked with
390
00:17:26,875 –> 00:17:29,833
giants like Diageo,
but you also worked in hospitality
391
00:17:29,833 –> 00:17:33,125
for quite some time working your way
through in your career, is that right?
392
00:17:33,125 –> 00:17:33,500
Yeah.
393
00:17:33,500 –> 00:17:35,500
So I thought like I was a student
394
00:17:35,500 –> 00:17:38,666
obviously in Newcastle and doing biology
395
00:17:39,083 –> 00:17:41,708
and part of,
396
00:17:42,666 –> 00:17:46,583
you know, my experience,
I guess living in Newcastle,
397
00:17:47,000 –> 00:17:49,000
I wanted to work behind the bar and,
398
00:17:49,041 –> 00:17:54,166
and I worked as a glass collector
to start with
399
00:17:54,666 –> 00:17:57,666
and, in a really upcoming bar back
400
00:17:57,666 –> 00:18:00,541
then that was visited by Ant and Dec
401
00:18:00,875 –> 00:18:04,541
and the first bar in Newcastle
to actually do free pour
402
00:18:05,000 –> 00:18:08,875
and which they stopped doing
because they realised that
403
00:18:08,916 –> 00:18:11,750
we can make you
so there’s so much waste and wastage
404
00:18:12,625 –> 00:18:14,625
from free pouring.
405
00:18:14,750 –> 00:18:17,250
So yeah, I’ll work
my way up as a glass collector.
406
00:18:17,250 –> 00:18:20,791
And then it went behind the bar
and then from then it just got it’s,
407
00:18:21,291 –> 00:18:25,375
you know,
working in the drinks industry.
408
00:18:25,583 –> 00:18:28,083
I thought, well what are the careers
available there?
409
00:18:28,250 –> 00:18:30,458
And obviously, you know,
410
00:18:30,458 –> 00:18:34,583
as a, an Asian person you are
411
00:18:34,875 –> 00:18:36,625
you being told that you need to
412
00:18:36,625 –> 00:18:38,666
do something academic, right?
413
00:18:39,208 –> 00:18:42,083
So you’re either
because you’re you’re thinking.
414
00:18:42,625 –> 00:18:43,958
Have no idea what you’re talking about.
415
00:18:43,958 –> 00:18:46,166
Because you know your cousin is a nurse.
416
00:18:46,916 –> 00:18:48,416
Your other cousin is a doctor
417
00:18:48,416 –> 00:18:50,458
therefore you have to do something scientific.
418
00:18:50,791 –> 00:18:51,750
Right.
419
00:18:51,750 –> 00:18:53,750
So but yeah
420
00:18:53,791 –> 00:18:55,833
I told my mother
I wanted to work for a charity.
421
00:18:55,833 –> 00:18:57,208
She was not happy.
422
00:18:57,208 –> 00:18:58,125
Why disappoint me?
423
00:18:58,125 –> 00:18:59,666
Why especially would you say,
424
00:19:00,791 –> 00:19:02,666
by the
way, I’m working behind the bar now.
425
00:19:02,666 –> 00:19:04,708
Like,
I’m not going to do anything scientific
426
00:19:04,708 –> 00:19:07,458
with my degree or anything academic.
427
00:19:07,458 –> 00:19:09,458
I’ll actually start working
behind the bar.
428
00:19:09,583 –> 00:19:11,541
Yeah, that was such a pleasure.
429
00:19:11,541 –> 00:19:13,541
So. Yeah, so.
430
00:19:14,000 –> 00:19:15,833
Well, as an aside, who’s laughing now?
431
00:19:15,833 –> 00:19:16,833
But okay.
432
00:19:16,833 –> 00:19:20,041
So we’re going through
and then I went to a telesales
433
00:19:21,208 –> 00:19:23,875
role in Carlsberg and then from then
434
00:19:23,875 –> 00:19:26,541
I jumped on to an account manager role
with the Diageo.
435
00:19:27,500 –> 00:19:27,833
Yeah.
436
00:19:27,833 –> 00:19:30,208
So I mean you’ve got an interesting
perspective of both
437
00:19:30,458 –> 00:19:32,208
how bartenders
438
00:19:32,208 –> 00:19:36,000
use the, the drinks, the flavours
and obviously
439
00:19:36,000 –> 00:19:39,083
the cocktail trend hasn’t,
hasn’t reduced.
440
00:19:39,083 –> 00:19:42,416
It’s, it’s not in abundance
now with new RTD
441
00:19:42,416 –> 00:19:44,958
is being released on a daily basis.
442
00:19:45,458 –> 00:19:48,958
It feels like you’ve you’ve got
that bartender perspective but
443
00:19:48,958 –> 00:19:50,958
you’ve also got that commercial
444
00:19:51,250 –> 00:19:53,250
commercial approach to things.
445
00:19:53,250 –> 00:19:57,000
And and it’s almost like
your experience has lined its way
446
00:19:57,375 –> 00:19:59,000
to this.
447
00:19:59,000 –> 00:20:01,083
It’s creating this venture
and that surely
448
00:20:01,083 –> 00:20:03,083
has had some influence on the success.
449
00:20:03,250 –> 00:20:04,625
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
450
00:20:04,625 –> 00:20:06,375
And also, I think, you know,
451
00:20:06,375 –> 00:20:08,375
if you’re going to really use a brand,
I think
452
00:20:08,416 –> 00:20:11,041
one thing that people forget is,
you know,
453
00:20:11,250 –> 00:20:14,333
when they release a brand, they,
you know,
454
00:20:14,333 –> 00:20:17,166
they kind of seem to think that’s
455
00:20:17,458 –> 00:20:20,666
I guess just sitting back
and then getting the distributor
456
00:20:20,666 –> 00:20:24,083
to actually
once you sell into the distributor,
457
00:20:24,083 –> 00:20:27,791
then that the work is done
because that is expected
458
00:20:27,958 –> 00:20:30,458
the distributor to actually go
and sell the brand for you.
459
00:20:30,541 –> 00:20:33,458
But you got to think where the stop
where there’s
460
00:20:33,458 –> 00:20:36,041
your brand in that portfolio,
461
00:20:36,041 –> 00:20:38,416
you know how you’re going to offer value
to the customer.
462
00:20:38,875 –> 00:20:41,791
And and also, you know,
463
00:20:42,625 –> 00:20:45,333
don’t forget about getting and,
you know, hitting the streets
464
00:20:45,333 –> 00:20:48,125
and actually like talking to bartenders
465
00:20:48,125 –> 00:20:52,375
and actually going into the venues
and actually seeing
466
00:20:52,708 –> 00:20:54,666
what the environment is like
467
00:20:54,666 –> 00:20:57,500
and see if that if your brand
is going to fit that venue,
468
00:20:57,500 –> 00:21:00,500
if they’re going to sell just one bottle
in six months or they’re going
469
00:21:00,500 –> 00:21:03,500
to sell two or three bottles per week,
you know,
470
00:21:03,500 –> 00:21:07,583
so it’s don’t you know, don’t.
471
00:21:07,916 –> 00:21:09,291
And I guess
472
00:21:10,916 –> 00:21:12,750
my my advice is to try
473
00:21:12,750 –> 00:21:15,708
to hit the streets and actually go
and sell the bottle yourself.
474
00:21:16,166 –> 00:21:18,291
And as much as you are
475
00:21:18,291 –> 00:21:20,875
still the founder and
476
00:21:22,250 –> 00:21:26,000
you know,
you still have to do the hard graft
477
00:21:26,208 –> 00:21:28,208
and actually getting
478
00:21:28,333 –> 00:21:31,041
getting that bottle moved and,
479
00:21:31,500 –> 00:21:33,500
you know, and getting the whole thing.
480
00:21:33,625 –> 00:21:36,750
That’s really interesting and
and not something that’s come up before.
481
00:21:36,750 –> 00:21:39,708
But I think is a really valid
point is when you are starting out
482
00:21:39,708 –> 00:21:41,708
as a craft gin, you’re creating success,
483
00:21:41,875 –> 00:21:44,375
a huge partner
484
00:21:44,375 –> 00:21:46,583
that you’re relying on
is the distribution networks.
485
00:21:46,583 –> 00:21:50,125
Once you’ve got a really quality,
distinctive brand,
486
00:21:50,375 –> 00:21:52,375
now it’s
getting it out there into the market.
487
00:21:52,375 –> 00:21:55,708
So you mentioned there
about how actually it’s as much
488
00:21:55,708 –> 00:21:59,666
about selecting the right distributor
as it is about them
489
00:21:59,666 –> 00:22:02,458
choosing you to be onboarded
as part of their portfolio.
490
00:22:03,750 –> 00:22:04,916
Was that true for you?
491
00:22:04,916 –> 00:22:08,791
Was it did you have to actually explore
and research a few? Was it
492
00:22:08,791 –> 00:22:11,333
was it more proactive in your approach
of who you wanted to work with?
493
00:22:11,333 –> 00:22:13,500
So there’s there’s two I guess there’s
494
00:22:13,500 –> 00:22:16,041
two approaches to this one
495
00:22:16,500 –> 00:22:18,500
I mean that been distributors
496
00:22:18,625 –> 00:22:20,166
but you have just met
497
00:22:20,166 –> 00:22:22,708
while being on a trade tool
498
00:22:23,250 –> 00:22:24,750
trade mission to Hong Kong. So.
499
00:22:24,750 –> 00:22:29,291
Taiwan, for example, happened
because the distributor was
500
00:22:30,875 –> 00:22:32,500
in the city
501
00:22:32,500 –> 00:22:36,041
and then looking to renew his visa
502
00:22:36,041 –> 00:22:38,666
and he found our brand on Instagram.
503
00:22:39,000 –> 00:22:40,875
And that’s, you know,
504
00:22:40,875 –> 00:22:42,875
that’s how we’d met would discuss
505
00:22:43,750 –> 00:22:45,375
his business.
506
00:22:45,375 –> 00:22:47,958
One thing that you need to understand
first, if you’re going to go
507
00:22:47,958 –> 00:22:49,958
with a distributor is, you know, A,
508
00:22:50,000 –> 00:22:52,291
how does your brand fit in the portfolio
509
00:22:52,416 –> 00:22:54,375
B, what’s their strategy?
510
00:22:54,375 –> 00:22:56,125
You know, who do they sell to?
511
00:22:56,125 –> 00:23:00,125
Do they sell mainly on trade,
your trade, e-commerce,
512
00:23:00,625 –> 00:23:02,375
you just need to understand,
513
00:23:02,375 –> 00:23:04,500
you know, where does your brand actually
514
00:23:04,500 –> 00:23:06,583
sit, in terms of,
515
00:23:06,625 –> 00:23:09,958
you know, is it more direct to consumer,
is it more on trade?
516
00:23:10,625 –> 00:23:12,291
You know, do you have any
517
00:23:12,291 –> 00:23:14,750
kind of gifting proposition?
518
00:23:15,791 –> 00:23:17,791
But also you need to
519
00:23:18,041 –> 00:23:19,250
understand,
520
00:23:19,250 –> 00:23:21,458
like,
is this the distributor that you can
521
00:23:22,208 –> 00:23:25,916
work with. You know, our rule is that myself
and Tim is always,
522
00:23:25,916 –> 00:23:28,583
can we go for a beer with this guy,
you know,
523
00:23:28,916 –> 00:23:31,125
and and establish that relationship.
524
00:23:31,916 –> 00:23:34,333
And if you can’t
if you can’t go for a beer
525
00:23:34,333 –> 00:23:36,333
with your distributor,
then there’s no point
526
00:23:36,666 –> 00:23:38,666
having that, erm
527
00:23:38,708 –> 00:23:43,166
you know, working with them
because you won’t be able to build
528
00:23:43,166 –> 00:23:45,833
that relationship and business as well
529
00:23:45,833 –> 00:23:47,833
as, I guess a friendship with them
530
00:23:47,916 –> 00:23:50,333
because especially with export,
531
00:23:50,541 –> 00:23:54,083
you know, And so and I,
532
00:23:55,625 –> 00:23:59,125
I guess it’s
yeah, one is approaching them
533
00:23:59,250 –> 00:24:01,208
obviously sending a load of emails
534
00:24:01,208 –> 00:24:04,125
to respect respected people and
535
00:24:04,541 –> 00:24:06,625
and then the other is you know
536
00:24:06,625 –> 00:24:09,208
we get requests from, from
537
00:24:10,291 –> 00:24:11,291
distributors from
538
00:24:11,291 –> 00:24:13,583
exporters all the time and
539
00:24:14,750 –> 00:24:16,750
especially now there’s a lot of those
540
00:24:16,750 –> 00:24:18,750
kind of scam emails that’s going out.
541
00:24:18,750 –> 00:24:22,541
That’s one thing that I’d say is
if you are getting through, most
542
00:24:22,541 –> 00:24:25,291
make sure that they are they are legit,
543
00:24:26,250 –> 00:24:28,750
find out if that person
actually exists on LinkedIn.
544
00:24:28,750 –> 00:24:30,750
LinkedIn is a great source
545
00:24:31,791 –> 00:24:33,791
of information in terms of,
546
00:24:34,041 –> 00:24:38,125
you know, just verifying their,
you know,
547
00:24:38,125 –> 00:24:42,291
their position in their company
to find out if they’ve got a website.
548
00:24:42,291 –> 00:24:45,083
I know some distributors especially.
549
00:24:45,583 –> 00:24:48,208
And in in countries
550
00:24:48,208 –> 00:24:51,625
like South America or some in Asia,
551
00:24:51,750 –> 00:24:54,000
they don’t have a website,
552
00:24:54,500 –> 00:24:59,166
but that they are
all is to always arrange
553
00:24:59,500 –> 00:25:01,500
a virtual meeting with them
554
00:25:01,583 –> 00:25:03,583
and make sure that they actually access
555
00:25:03,625 –> 00:25:07,041
and and understand,
you know, where you know,
556
00:25:07,041 –> 00:25:10,250
if they are selling already into the
market,
557
00:25:10,750 –> 00:25:12,375
then they should know
558
00:25:13,375 –> 00:25:14,875
where your product sits
559
00:25:14,875 –> 00:25:16,875
and who your competitors are.
560
00:25:17,041 –> 00:25:18,833
And they should understand what
561
00:25:18,833 –> 00:25:21,333
the strategies are
and how they’re going
562
00:25:21,333 –> 00:25:23,333
to sell your brand in
to their territory.
563
00:25:23,875 –> 00:25:25,541
That’s really good advice.
564
00:25:25,541 –> 00:25:28,291
It sounds like learned advice
and it sounds like some
565
00:25:28,500 –> 00:25:30,666
we want to prevent a few people
learning the hard way.
566
00:25:30,666 –> 00:25:34,500
This took a few mistakes
and until we will learn how
567
00:25:34,833 –> 00:25:37,041
to kind of navigate our export
journey now.
568
00:25:37,666 –> 00:25:39,250
Yeah, absolutely.
569
00:25:39,250 –> 00:25:41,208
Well,
thank you so much for sharing that.
570
00:25:41,208 –> 00:25:42,375
I think you.
571
00:25:42,375 –> 00:25:44,916
I’m going to swing back a little later
572
00:25:44,916 –> 00:25:48,750
on on the perspective of bartenders,
because I’m always interested
573
00:25:48,750 –> 00:25:52,333
as as always custodians of the brand
in front of the customer.
574
00:25:52,583 –> 00:25:57,958
But you touched on the relationship
and the reliance on distributors
575
00:25:57,958 –> 00:25:59,958
for their advice, their insights
576
00:26:00,208 –> 00:26:02,041
in country markets.
577
00:26:02,041 –> 00:26:04,791
And that leads me to think about
578
00:26:05,208 –> 00:26:08,666
the strategic
distinctiveness of Tarsier anyway.
579
00:26:08,666 –> 00:26:10,708
And we talk about in our industry
580
00:26:10,708 –> 00:26:12,958
at Signet working in embellishments
and labels.
581
00:26:12,958 –> 00:26:14,958
We talk a lot about shelf appeal,
582
00:26:15,208 –> 00:26:17,958
standing out from the crowd
and being remembered.
583
00:26:18,500 –> 00:26:20,333
How did you want Tarsier
584
00:26:20,333 –> 00:26:22,375
to stand out against your competitors?
585
00:26:22,500 –> 00:26:24,500
Really, we just wanted something
that looked
586
00:26:25,333 –> 00:26:27,500
totally different to everything else out there.
587
00:26:29,750 –> 00:26:31,041
And I guess
588
00:26:31,041 –> 00:26:33,750
that’s why we took the decision to
589
00:26:33,833 –> 00:26:36,166
do all the branding ourselves
590
00:26:36,416 –> 00:26:38,416
do the design ourselves
591
00:26:38,541 –> 00:26:42,000
because we saw there were two, well
three ways of doing it.
592
00:26:42,625 –> 00:26:44,625
One, spend a lot of money
593
00:26:45,166 –> 00:26:47,333
on a really good design agency
594
00:26:48,125 –> 00:26:50,041
and have something really unique.
595
00:26:50,041 –> 00:26:52,041
We didn’t have a lot of money.
596
00:26:52,708 –> 00:26:55,083
The other way is spend
a small amount of money,
597
00:26:55,250 –> 00:26:57,416
but then you risk getting something
598
00:26:57,416 –> 00:26:59,416
that’s a bit more,
599
00:27:00,250 –> 00:27:03,500
off the shelf, I guess. A bit more generic
600
00:27:04,041 –> 00:27:05,541
Spirits label.
601
00:27:05,541 –> 00:27:08,750
Or, a third approach is just
do it yourself.
602
00:27:09,416 –> 00:27:12,833
And that’s the one we went for
603
00:27:12,916 –> 00:27:14,875
like everything which yeah but like the.
604
00:27:14,875 –> 00:27:15,291
Bravest option.
605
00:27:15,291 –> 00:27:17,666
We’ve done it ourselves,
it takes a lot longer.
606
00:27:18,750 –> 00:27:21,000
So it’s one of those things
that if we could have done this all again,
607
00:27:21,000 –> 00:27:24,000
we’d probably get somebody
and go down
608
00:27:24,000 –> 00:27:26,666
the professional route
and just set it up quicker.
609
00:27:27,500 –> 00:27:28,916
But we did it our own way
610
00:27:28,916 –> 00:27:31,250
and it was a long journey.
611
00:27:31,250 –> 00:27:33,916
It took, I mean, we’re on to our
612
00:27:33,958 –> 00:27:35,958
Third iteration
613
00:27:35,958 –> 00:27:38,666
of the kind of bottle
614
00:27:38,666 –> 00:27:41,000
and brand design at the moment.
615
00:27:41,291 –> 00:27:44,500
And that’s an interesting question
because I mean, of course I’ve noticed
616
00:27:44,500 –> 00:27:48,666
that and it’s very natural
for that progression to happen.
617
00:27:48,750 –> 00:27:52,291
I mean, you’re almost doing short
testing with your customers
618
00:27:52,291 –> 00:27:54,833
in smaller markets, growing, growing,
getting that feedback.
619
00:27:55,041 –> 00:27:57,208
And I think that’s
just a really valid way of
620
00:27:57,333 –> 00:28:01,250
of of of getting that insight.
621
00:28:01,916 –> 00:28:04,583
But what went into
what was the thinking between.
622
00:28:04,583 –> 00:28:05,291
Right. Okay.
623
00:28:05,291 –> 00:28:08,875
Between that what we see now out
in market and the previous iteration.
624
00:28:09,083 –> 00:28:11,000
What made you think, you know what.
625
00:28:11,000 –> 00:28:14,000
Sherwin
We need a rethink here and actually
626
00:28:14,000 –> 00:28:17,041
I think redesign
might be exactly what we need.
627
00:28:17,250 –> 00:28:20,833
What were the indicators that made
you think it’s time?
628
00:28:21,000 –> 00:28:25,375
So first of
all, the Tarsier that’s actually
629
00:28:28,291 –> 00:28:29,666
the image that’s actually on
630
00:28:29,666 –> 00:28:32,458
the bottle
that was actually done by my cousin.
631
00:28:32,875 –> 00:28:37,125
So he drew that from pencil
drawing, because I
632
00:28:37,125 –> 00:28:39,125
I had an idea of what
633
00:28:39,250 –> 00:28:41,500
we wanted to the brand to look like.
634
00:28:41,500 –> 00:28:45,208
You know, like I said, going back
from what from my experience at Diageo,
635
00:28:45,208 –> 00:28:47,250
you look at the Johnnie Walker label,
for example,
636
00:28:47,250 –> 00:28:50,333
and Johnnie Walker bottle,
there was a reason why they made it
637
00:28:50,333 –> 00:28:53,458
square
so that it could fit into the case.
638
00:28:53,750 –> 00:28:57,083
They there was a reason
why the label skewed
639
00:28:57,500 –> 00:28:59,500
so that, you know,
if you’re looking at whisky
640
00:28:59,833 –> 00:29:01,416
and the
641
00:29:01,416 –> 00:29:04,125
the Johnnie Walker label would skew and the
642
00:29:04,125 –> 00:29:07,208
label would stand out against the other
whisky brands.
643
00:29:07,583 –> 00:29:09,958
And for us it was so for us
644
00:29:09,958 –> 00:29:11,958
it was like taking that Tarsier
645
00:29:11,958 –> 00:29:13,958
and putting it right in
646
00:29:14,000 –> 00:29:16,000
right in front of the bottle
647
00:29:16,250 –> 00:29:17,875
so that it would ask, you know.
648
00:29:17,875 –> 00:29:19,458
So that’s a conversation starter.
649
00:29:19,458 –> 00:29:20,916
What is that thing?
650
00:29:20,916 –> 00:29:22,458
You know,
651
00:29:22,458 –> 00:29:25,250
but that was drawn by my cousin
652
00:29:25,625 –> 00:29:28,291
and it only cost me, I mean
653
00:29:29,583 –> 00:29:31,583
well it cost us, a
654
00:29:32,500 –> 00:29:34,500
lechon for his wedding
655
00:29:34,625 –> 00:29:36,625
which I think.
656
00:29:39,958 –> 00:29:41,916
I love that that’s a very good deal.
657
00:29:41,916 –> 00:29:44,958
We were getting quotes of about £3,000.
658
00:29:44,958 –> 00:29:48,333
I all it cost me was £100
659
00:29:49,166 –> 00:29:51,625
for a roast pig for his, for his wedding.
660
00:29:52,166 –> 00:29:54,166
And then so we designed.
661
00:29:55,583 –> 00:29:58,541
Which for our audiences
it’s very, very good.
662
00:29:58,541 –> 00:30:00,541
And is it
worth the visit to Philippines.
663
00:30:01,250 –> 00:30:02,958
Well I so
664
00:30:02,958 –> 00:30:05,291
we had to kind of design
everything around
665
00:30:05,541 –> 00:30:07,750
and we first went in with,
666
00:30:08,083 –> 00:30:10,583
which was to launch
with a square bottle.
667
00:30:11,125 –> 00:30:13,125
But what we found was that
668
00:30:13,500 –> 00:30:16,000
if the back bar is,
669
00:30:16,875 –> 00:30:19,250
you know, crowded, what they tend to do
670
00:30:19,250 –> 00:30:21,416
was put the bottle on the side.
671
00:30:21,416 –> 00:30:23,416
So all you see
672
00:30:23,625 –> 00:30:25,666
is the side of the bottle,
not the actual branding.
673
00:30:25,666 –> 00:30:27,958
So that’s why we moved on to a
674
00:30:29,250 –> 00:30:30,291
circular
675
00:30:30,291 –> 00:30:33,291
a round bottle
so that we had that shelf presence.
676
00:30:33,625 –> 00:30:36,583
And the other reason
was that we started with a 50 centilitre
677
00:30:36,583 –> 00:30:38,750
bottle, and then we had to go to a 70 centilitre
678
00:30:39,333 –> 00:30:41,875
And because the feedback
that we were getting
679
00:30:41,875 –> 00:30:44,291
was as much as I love your liquid
680
00:30:44,875 –> 00:30:47,416
and the price per shot in order
681
00:30:47,416 –> 00:30:50,625
to incorporate it into a drinks menu,
or a cocktail,
682
00:30:51,166 –> 00:30:52,625
he it doesn’t equate
683
00:30:52,625 –> 00:30:54,625
for us to actually
684
00:30:54,666 –> 00:30:57,625
to include your brand into the serve
685
00:30:57,958 –> 00:30:59,875
because the price per shot
was so expensive.
686
00:30:59,875 –> 00:31:03,166
So that’s why we we increased
687
00:31:04,291 –> 00:31:05,875
the size than 70 centilitre
688
00:31:05,875 –> 00:31:08,958
from a 50 centilitre to give more value
689
00:31:09,000 –> 00:31:11,958
to consumers as well as at the bars.
690
00:31:12,291 –> 00:31:15,125
And the other thing to say
about the first bottle
691
00:31:15,750 –> 00:31:19,125
and and it’s a really good
bit of advice is don’t
692
00:31:19,125 –> 00:31:22,583
think about the now
when it comes to your design decisions
693
00:31:23,125 –> 00:31:25,125
think a year down the life
694
00:31:25,583 –> 00:31:26,875
so what might be
695
00:31:27,958 –> 00:31:29,958
okay to do now
696
00:31:30,291 –> 00:31:32,625
when you scale up and you’re doing
697
00:31:33,333 –> 00:31:36,416
5, 10 times the volume, is it still achievable
698
00:31:36,666 –> 00:31:38,666
with your design choices?
699
00:31:38,875 –> 00:31:41,708
So with our square bottle, we were labelling
by hand
700
00:31:42,916 –> 00:31:44,250
and the way
701
00:31:44,250 –> 00:31:46,416
that we got the label in the same
position each time
702
00:31:46,791 –> 00:31:48,916
was actually to design a jig
703
00:31:49,583 –> 00:31:51,583
that we then 3D printed
704
00:31:52,083 –> 00:31:54,916
the label
because it’s a long label wrapped around
705
00:31:55,250 –> 00:31:58,250
three sides of a rectangular bottle.
706
00:31:58,791 –> 00:32:00,875
So it’s not very easy to apply.
707
00:32:01,583 –> 00:32:04,416
We had put it in this jig
that is the exact outline of the bottle
708
00:32:04,416 –> 00:32:07,666
So because again, it was a
non-standard shaped label as well
709
00:32:07,916 –> 00:32:09,916
we we did things that we though
that looks nice
710
00:32:10,875 –> 00:32:12,166
we didn’t think through
711
00:32:12,166 –> 00:32:14,166
is that actually practical.
712
00:32:14,583 –> 00:32:16,958
So the amount of time to label
each bottle
713
00:32:17,125 –> 00:32:20,208
to get each one looking uniform,
714
00:32:21,000 –> 00:32:22,875
it was a lot.
715
00:32:22,875 –> 00:32:24,833
And that that’s fine
when you’re first starting out
716
00:32:24,833 –> 00:32:28,333
and you’re not doing big volumes,
but then as volumes increase.
717
00:32:28,333 –> 00:32:30,875
It’s like, we’re spending so much time
718
00:32:31,083 –> 00:32:32,875
just getting this label on
719
00:32:32,875 –> 00:32:35,250
Whereas if we had a round bottle
720
00:32:35,541 –> 00:32:37,708
there’s so many machines
721
00:32:38,541 –> 00:32:40,500
that start from quite cheap,
722
00:32:40,500 –> 00:32:42,958
I can get that machine again.
723
00:32:43,333 –> 00:32:45,333
It’s so much easier with a round bottle
724
00:32:45,500 –> 00:32:46,750
So it’s that kind of thing.
725
00:32:46,750 –> 00:32:47,875
Just think ahead.
726
00:32:49,166 –> 00:32:50,416
Do I want to do this.
727
00:32:50,416 –> 00:32:52,375
When I’m doing thousands of bottles.
728
00:32:52,375 –> 00:32:56,000
It’s fine
when you’re doing 50 or 100 in a batch.
729
00:32:56,375 –> 00:32:59,750
When you go to 1000, 1500.
730
00:33:00,583 –> 00:33:01,833
Can you still do that?
731
00:33:01,833 –> 00:33:03,041
Yeah, 100%.
732
00:33:03,041 –> 00:33:05,916
I think that’s such
an excellent point, Tim,
733
00:33:05,958 –> 00:33:07,958
and something that we see
with clients as well.
734
00:33:08,750 –> 00:33:10,750
But I guess
735
00:33:11,041 –> 00:33:12,625
it’s very easy to go
736
00:33:12,625 –> 00:33:15,666
straight into what feels good,
what looks good, what,
737
00:33:15,666 –> 00:33:18,791
what says something about our brand
but not think about,
738
00:33:19,041 –> 00:33:23,083
well, how does this, how does this
then lend itself to mass manufacture?
739
00:33:23,083 –> 00:33:26,458
Because that’s the end goal
for a lot of people is to scale
740
00:33:26,458 –> 00:33:28,458
and to scale most cost effectively.
741
00:33:28,625 –> 00:33:31,791
And what do you starting to think
about the design
742
00:33:31,791 –> 00:33:34,791
of the bottle
beyond the production to go?
743
00:33:34,791 –> 00:33:35,000
Well
744
00:33:35,000 –> 00:33:37,791
how is it going to transfer
to Australia to U.S.
745
00:33:37,791 –> 00:33:41,250
markets and is it
still going to get damaged en route
746
00:33:41,250 –> 00:33:43,291
and all these complexities of
how is it going
747
00:33:43,291 –> 00:33:45,291
to get applied to the bottle?
748
00:33:45,625 –> 00:33:48,750
These are things that need
to be considered from that, that design
749
00:33:48,750 –> 00:33:50,958
phase 100% and
750
00:33:50,958 –> 00:33:53,375
I think you’ve shared that example
751
00:33:53,708 –> 00:33:56,000
through and through with
with your experience there.
752
00:33:56,416 –> 00:33:58,416
So that’s that’s really interesting.
753
00:33:58,583 –> 00:34:00,583
Can I ask why are we decided
754
00:34:00,875 –> 00:34:02,875
the type of bottle?
755
00:34:02,875 –> 00:34:05,083
So it’s it’s not a glass bottle, is it?
756
00:34:05,083 –> 00:34:05,750
It’s a
757
00:34:06,833 –> 00:34:08,833
is it is it resin or–
It is a glass bottle
758
00:34:09,166 –> 00:34:11,750
Sorry to say it’s made to a round bottle for
759
00:34:12,708 –> 00:34:15,916
for easier label application, to
a 70 cl bottle
760
00:34:15,958 –> 00:34:18,208
because it’s just better value for the
consumer,
761
00:34:18,208 –> 00:34:21,083
for the bars
762
00:34:21,875 –> 00:34:23,166
and we really like the kind
763
00:34:23,166 –> 00:34:25,166
of apothecary style bottle
764
00:34:25,750 –> 00:34:28,166
but it’s such a popular bottle
765
00:34:28,166 –> 00:34:30,166
in that there’s a lot of brands
that use it.
766
00:34:30,250 –> 00:34:33,375
So had we just stayed with clear glass
for a label
767
00:34:33,375 –> 00:34:35,750
that we’re not achieving our objective
768
00:34:35,750 –> 00:34:37,750
of standing out and looking different
769
00:34:38,458 –> 00:34:40,250
Now, ideally,
770
00:34:40,250 –> 00:34:42,250
you go into your own custom bottle, so
771
00:34:42,708 –> 00:34:44,750
so you really are a unique bottle,
772
00:34:45,208 –> 00:34:47,208
but we didn’t have the funds to do that.
773
00:34:47,416 –> 00:34:49,708
So it’s like, right,
how can we take something off the shelf
774
00:34:50,125 –> 00:34:52,125
but make it look custom?
775
00:34:52,166 –> 00:34:53,500
And we thought, right, let’s
776
00:34:53,500 –> 00:34:55,500
do that through decoration.
777
00:34:55,625 –> 00:34:57,125
So that leads onto
778
00:34:57,125 –> 00:34:58,916
our second iteration of brand
779
00:34:59,875 –> 00:35:00,625
where
780
00:35:00,625 –> 00:35:02,833
we had
the, the kind of apothecary bottle.
781
00:35:02,833 –> 00:35:05,333
So we thought, let’s get it
sprayed black
782
00:35:05,833 –> 00:35:07,833
and then apply the label
783
00:35:08,125 –> 00:35:11,291
but because of the design,
we had in our minds, we wanted
784
00:35:11,333 –> 00:35:14,750
almost full coverage
for the label.
785
00:35:15,875 –> 00:35:17,208
And that’s what we did
786
00:35:17,208 –> 00:35:19,208
because nobody said, don’t do that.
787
00:35:19,208 –> 00:35:22,541
That’s a ridiculous idea
because we’re doing it all ourselves
788
00:35:22,541 –> 00:35:24,375
and we were learning
from our mistakes rather than
789
00:35:24,375 –> 00:35:27,500
taking other people’s learnings.
790
00:35:27,500 –> 00:35:30,125
So we ended up with this full coverage bottle
791
00:35:30,125 –> 00:35:32,166
loads of foil on it.
792
00:35:32,166 –> 00:35:34,166
It looked gorgeous,
793
00:35:34,708 –> 00:35:36,958
but applying it to a bottle
794
00:35:37,083 –> 00:35:40,000
that has rounded edges goes up.
795
00:35:40,625 –> 00:35:41,750
We were right on the limit.
796
00:35:41,750 –> 00:35:44,000
A flat surface to apply that label to.
797
00:35:44,041 –> 00:35:48,500
So, so we spent so much time
798
00:35:49,500 –> 00:35:51,958
trying to push down creases
799
00:35:52,166 –> 00:35:54,541
or like buff out creases with cloths.
800
00:35:56,458 –> 00:35:57,083
The vision in
801
00:35:57,083 –> 00:35:59,166
our heads was like,
This is going to be amazing.
802
00:35:59,166 –> 00:36:02,250
The reality is we did take the physical
803
00:36:03,041 –> 00:36:05,666
characteristics
of the bottle into account because.
804
00:36:05,750 –> 00:36:08,083
Yeah. Yeah. Getting and so. Learning.
805
00:36:08,083 –> 00:36:11,208
Getting a full wrap around label
in the exact positioning
806
00:36:11,250 –> 00:36:14,041
so it sticks down properly
very difficult
807
00:36:14,875 –> 00:36:18,833
so that then that it’s on
to our third iteration which was,
808
00:36:18,833 –> 00:36:21,041
well let’s just get this bottle
decorated,
809
00:36:21,666 –> 00:36:23,666
let’s get it sprayed
810
00:36:24,541 –> 00:36:26,541
Screenprinted and then foiled
811
00:36:27,875 –> 00:36:31,250
but keeping this full wraparound design
812
00:36:32,125 –> 00:36:33,333
because then it just
813
00:36:33,333 –> 00:36:36,166
looks like nothing else out there
and that’s what we achieved.
814
00:36:36,416 –> 00:36:38,958
Again, we’re going to decorators
815
00:36:39,250 –> 00:36:41,375
That’s going to do something
they haven’t really done
816
00:36:41,375 –> 00:36:43,375
before.
817
00:36:43,875 –> 00:36:45,500
They haven’t done
818
00:36:45,500 –> 00:36:47,500
that much foil on the bottle.
819
00:36:47,625 –> 00:36:49,416
The good reason because every time
820
00:36:49,416 –> 00:36:53,125
you add an additional process to you’re
821
00:36:53,750 –> 00:36:56,250
a decoration, you add in
822
00:36:57,958 –> 00:36:59,958
issues or potential issues,
823
00:37:00,250 –> 00:37:02,041
there’s always going to be things
824
00:37:02,041 –> 00:37:04,041
out of line, out of tolerance.
825
00:37:04,250 –> 00:37:06,250
And we’re asking this
826
00:37:07,375 –> 00:37:08,500
bottle decorator to get
827
00:37:08,500 –> 00:37:10,500
everything lined up the screenprint
828
00:37:10,541 –> 00:37:12,541
needs to be lined up with the foil
829
00:37:12,625 –> 00:37:14,625
and it’s all different processes
830
00:37:14,750 –> 00:37:16,791
and we ended up with
831
00:37:18,750 –> 00:37:20,500
a decorated bottle that wasn’t
where we wanted it to be.
832
00:37:20,500 –> 00:37:24,416
Because of all of those errors
that got introduced
833
00:37:24,916 –> 00:37:28,458
and then maybe one in two
834
00:37:29,125 –> 00:37:32,458
were absolutely good standard
835
00:37:33,625 –> 00:37:34,583
and the others weren’t.
836
00:37:34,583 –> 00:37:38,541
And that we kind of thought,
well, this is almost damaging the brand
837
00:37:38,541 –> 00:37:40,833
if we’re having to send out
bottle that aren’t absolutely
838
00:37:40,833 –> 00:37:42,833
perfect.
839
00:37:44,000 –> 00:37:44,875
the way we got around
840
00:37:44,875 –> 00:37:47,416
that was eventually finding a decorator
841
00:37:47,416 –> 00:37:49,416
that could do it
842
00:37:49,458 –> 00:37:52,000
that could do what we had in mind.
843
00:37:52,000 –> 00:37:54,000
So they had innovative
844
00:37:54,500 –> 00:37:56,500
techniques they could use.
845
00:37:56,625 –> 00:37:59,083
They gave us advice on how to change
846
00:37:59,291 –> 00:38:02,041
the design slightly,
so that everything would line up
847
00:38:02,833 –> 00:38:04,208
You’re going to get a really good
848
00:38:05,541 –> 00:38:07,166
return rate on your bottle, so
849
00:38:07,166 –> 00:38:10,041
Not too many spoil
because that’s another big thing
850
00:38:10,041 –> 00:38:12,041
if you’re sending,
851
00:38:12,208 –> 00:38:14,583
say, 2000 bottles
852
00:38:14,583 –> 00:38:18,083
to get decorated and a quarter
of them are wasted
853
00:38:18,875 –> 00:38:21,041
that’s less bottles than you expected.
854
00:38:21,041 –> 00:38:23,958
It’s also pushing the price up.
High cost.
855
00:38:23,958 –> 00:38:25,500
So yeah, 100%. Yeah.
856
00:38:25,500 –> 00:38:28,291
And it’s these things we didn’t consider
because we just didn’t know.
857
00:38:28,333 –> 00:38:31,750
We thought, send up our bottle to get decorated
it, it all come back looking
858
00:38:31,750 –> 00:38:34,333
absolutely identical
859
00:38:35,041 –> 00:38:38,916
and it will be for this certain price.
We didn’t take the wastage into account
860
00:38:38,916 –> 00:38:43,166
which really pushed that cost
of goods up but then it was finding
861
00:38:43,166 –> 00:38:44,125
a decorator
862
00:38:44,125 –> 00:38:46,250
it’s actually from Germany, the one that we use
863
00:38:46,916 –> 00:38:48,958
that could do what we wanted them to do
864
00:38:50,000 –> 00:38:52,583
at the only issue there was
865
00:38:52,583 –> 00:38:54,583
they had a minimum quantity
866
00:38:54,750 –> 00:38:57,375
over 10,000 units.
867
00:38:57,375 –> 00:38:57,958
per skew
868
00:38:59,375 –> 00:39:00,541
And so
869
00:39:00,541 –> 00:39:03,041
we have we now have the says
870
00:39:03,750 –> 00:39:06,208
you see that
only two of them are fully decorated
871
00:39:06,916 –> 00:39:09,625
Our Southeast Asian Dry and our Oriental Pink
872
00:39:10,500 –> 00:39:13,250
And that’s because
we didn’t have cash flow
873
00:39:13,291 –> 00:39:15,291
or the space in our distillery
874
00:39:15,750 –> 00:39:18,708
to get over 10,000 of each skew
875
00:39:18,791 –> 00:39:21,916
that would be 50,000 different bottles
876
00:39:21,916 –> 00:39:23,916
That we need to get every order.
877
00:39:24,416 –> 00:39:27,291
So we thought,
let’s stick with our core range.
878
00:39:27,291 –> 00:39:29,333
The black and the pink bottles
879
00:39:29,333 –> 00:39:31,333
look really distinctive
880
00:39:31,916 –> 00:39:33,916
and then for every other release
881
00:39:34,041 –> 00:39:36,041
We’ll get back to labels
882
00:39:36,166 –> 00:39:38,916
because it just means
that we only need three different bottles
883
00:39:38,916 –> 00:39:41,416
being decorated
because the other bottles
884
00:39:41,416 –> 00:39:44,250
is just a white spray coat
and a label.
885
00:39:45,125 –> 00:39:47,125
So it’s those kind of considerations.
886
00:39:47,333 –> 00:39:48,375
Yeah, absolutely.
887
00:39:48,375 –> 00:39:52,375
And it’s actually when I was looking at
it almost forms its own collection.
888
00:39:52,375 –> 00:39:55,083
It’s almost like a little travellers
collection because you’ve got the cowsan
889
00:39:55,083 –> 00:39:58,250
and you’ve got the the type-A old Tom
890
00:39:58,416 –> 00:40:00,458
and then you’ve got the Calamansi
citrus.
891
00:40:00,458 –> 00:40:03,666
I feel like it’s like there’s
a little Traveller expedition there
892
00:40:03,666 –> 00:40:06,166
and then you’ve got your flagships
893
00:40:06,958 –> 00:40:10,500
and if anyone hasn’t tried the
the Oriental pink
894
00:40:10,500 –> 00:40:12,958
gin, they must is a winner.
895
00:40:13,166 –> 00:40:13,958
Chicken dinner.
896
00:40:15,500 –> 00:40:16,208
So do try it.
897
00:40:16,208 –> 00:40:17,833
I have the opportunity to do that.
898
00:40:17,833 –> 00:40:19,416
At BCB Berlin.
899
00:40:19,416 –> 00:40:21,083
So please do so
900
00:40:21,083 –> 00:40:24,583
I think that I think the look,
I mean it’s taken three iterations
901
00:40:24,583 –> 00:40:26,750
but you’ve achieved something
very special
902
00:40:27,833 –> 00:40:30,291
and I just want to highlight
903
00:40:30,291 –> 00:40:33,000
the fact that, you know,
the stopper is, is wooden.
904
00:40:34,333 –> 00:40:35,916
You are
905
00:40:35,916 –> 00:40:39,000
I feel like because you’re a values
organisation,
906
00:40:39,416 –> 00:40:41,458
sustainability is something that’s quite
907
00:40:41,791 –> 00:40:43,500
a, you know, increasingly
908
00:40:43,500 –> 00:40:46,625
valuable to you and
and something that’s important to you.
909
00:40:47,041 –> 00:40:50,000
What A lot of people
talk about sustainability
910
00:40:50,000 –> 00:40:52,500
in this industry,
particularly around packaging.
911
00:40:52,708 –> 00:40:54,583
What does it mean for you as a brand?
912
00:40:54,583 –> 00:40:54,875
Okay.
913
00:40:54,875 –> 00:40:57,083
So in terms of obviously we do
914
00:40:57,083 –> 00:40:59,125
a lot of our business abroad,
915
00:41:00,208 –> 00:41:02,208
so we had to look
916
00:41:03,708 –> 00:41:05,541
look at that bottle
917
00:41:05,541 –> 00:41:07,666
and actually how how much it weighs.
918
00:41:07,666 –> 00:41:11,250
So now where
919
00:41:11,250 –> 00:41:15,416
a bottle is an 40%
920
00:41:15,416 –> 00:41:18,750
lighter
than the standard bottles out there,
921
00:41:18,958 –> 00:41:21,833
because for us
922
00:41:22,458 –> 00:41:25,708
most of our business is exports,
I think 80% of our business is exports.
923
00:41:25,708 –> 00:41:27,916
So we are sending heavy
924
00:41:28,458 –> 00:41:30,791
we were sending heavy bottles
previously.
925
00:41:30,791 –> 00:41:35,000
And if there’s a way
that we could actually reduce the weight
926
00:41:35,208 –> 00:41:38,208
and the emissions from our
927
00:41:39,833 –> 00:41:43,125
deliveries to other countries and then
928
00:41:44,458 –> 00:41:46,791
the bottle way
I guess was the first thing
929
00:41:46,791 –> 00:41:50,458
that we
we obviously had to reduce the weight.
930
00:41:50,458 –> 00:41:55,166
The second is that
the actual cork itself is made of wood.
931
00:41:55,166 –> 00:41:59,083
Now we used to use paper as well to
932
00:41:59,541 –> 00:42:01,541
and to seal the,
933
00:42:03,166 –> 00:42:05,166
the, the, the bottle.
934
00:42:06,416 –> 00:42:07,166
Yeah. The supper.
935
00:42:07,166 –> 00:42:09,833
And then what we found was that the
936
00:42:10,208 –> 00:42:12,208
the actual
937
00:42:12,416 –> 00:42:14,208
images on the paper
938
00:42:14,208 –> 00:42:17,791
we’ve actually laser
etched out now onto the cork
939
00:42:18,083 –> 00:42:21,833
so it removes the another step for us
940
00:42:21,833 –> 00:42:26,208
and it actually gives the, the stopper
941
00:42:26,708 –> 00:42:28,708
a lot more of a distinct
942
00:42:28,708 –> 00:42:30,708
look rather than just having a paper
943
00:42:32,625 –> 00:42:34,291
seal over it.
944
00:42:34,291 –> 00:42:35,875
And the other thing that we’re
945
00:42:35,875 –> 00:42:38,375
also in terms of the packaging
946
00:42:38,875 –> 00:42:41,958
and those are the improvements
947
00:42:41,958 –> 00:42:44,458
that we’ve done in order
to reduce our emission impact.
948
00:42:44,916 –> 00:42:47,375
But the other way that we are actually
949
00:42:48,750 –> 00:42:50,041
putting sustainability as
950
00:42:50,041 –> 00:42:52,041
part of our business process
951
00:42:52,416 –> 00:42:55,583
is that we are using a very modern
still now.
952
00:42:56,250 –> 00:42:58,458
We use a still called nice still
953
00:42:58,583 –> 00:43:01,875
and which is happily insulated,
954
00:43:03,083 –> 00:43:04,541
which means that
955
00:43:04,541 –> 00:43:07,583
that we are saving quite a lot of energy
956
00:43:07,708 –> 00:43:09,708
when we’re distilling, especially
957
00:43:09,708 –> 00:43:11,708
if you’re, you know,
958
00:43:12,083 –> 00:43:13,208
putting this
959
00:43:13,208 –> 00:43:15,291
still on for what, 10, 12 hours?
960
00:43:15,750 –> 00:43:18,916
The way that we are reducing
961
00:43:19,125 –> 00:43:22,375
our emissions here
is that we use the isotope uses
962
00:43:22,375 –> 00:43:24,875
four times
less energy than copper pot stills.
963
00:43:25,833 –> 00:43:29,750
So it’s great and and and and world
964
00:43:29,750 –> 00:43:31,916
where at the energy crisis the minute is
965
00:43:32,333 –> 00:43:34,000
you know
966
00:43:34,000 –> 00:43:37,791
and then also we are using a rotor valve
967
00:43:37,791 –> 00:43:39,833
about which means
that we’re extracting flavour
968
00:43:40,916 –> 00:43:43,500
in low temperatures
and it’s a very efficient way
969
00:43:43,500 –> 00:43:46,541
of actually extracting flavours for us
970
00:43:46,583 –> 00:43:48,583
notching it to our gin base
971
00:43:48,625 –> 00:43:51,958
and and that normally takes
about 30 minutes
972
00:43:52,291 –> 00:43:54,291
and everything that we’re using
is electric.
973
00:43:54,833 –> 00:43:57,375
That’s immense
because what you’ve highlighted
974
00:43:57,375 –> 00:44:01,208
there, Sherwin, is for a lot of people
when they think about sustainability,
975
00:44:01,208 –> 00:44:03,208
it’s about how they project that look
976
00:44:03,208 –> 00:44:05,875
and whether they embody
those values or not.
977
00:44:05,875 –> 00:44:10,208
It’s just how we look more sustainable
for actually,
978
00:44:10,208 –> 00:44:13,375
you’ve hit the nail on the head
that you’re thinking wider,
979
00:44:13,666 –> 00:44:16,125
and not many people think
about the weight of their bottles
980
00:44:16,125 –> 00:44:18,125
and how that could actually contribute
to emissions,
981
00:44:18,125 –> 00:44:20,791
which contributes to it
982
00:44:20,875 –> 00:44:24,458
could be contributing to cost savings,
but also sustainability.
983
00:44:24,458 –> 00:44:26,750
And that’s a really important
note there.
984
00:44:26,750 –> 00:44:28,833
And the activity of continually
985
00:44:28,833 –> 00:44:31,583
improving our own processes. And
986
00:44:32,666 –> 00:44:33,166
I think
987
00:44:33,166 –> 00:44:35,333
that’s really valuable for people
to note
988
00:44:36,250 –> 00:44:38,083
that sustainability in design
989
00:44:38,083 –> 00:44:40,541
can also be something really impactful
990
00:44:40,708 –> 00:44:43,916
when it comes to thinking about your
your emissions as a business.
991
00:44:44,250 –> 00:44:47,750
I’m conscious of your time,
but I’ve just got a
992
00:44:47,750 –> 00:44:51,375
couple of other questions
about what’s next, basically.
993
00:44:51,375 –> 00:44:53,916
Tarsier, if I read rightly and I
994
00:44:55,041 –> 00:44:57,666
was maybe a couple of years ago
now, you were exporting
995
00:44:57,666 –> 00:45:00,625
into 20 different countries,
probably more.
996
00:45:01,416 –> 00:45:04,041
What what’s what’s next for.
997
00:45:04,041 –> 00:45:05,708
Tarsier Spirits.
998
00:45:05,708 –> 00:45:08,458
So it’s building the brand abroad
999
00:45:09,666 –> 00:45:11,000
focusing on key markets
1000
00:45:11,000 –> 00:45:14,166
So that’s really, we want to be known
1001
00:45:14,166 –> 00:45:16,291
as the go to Southeast Asian gin.
1002
00:45:17,750 –> 00:45:20,250
So so that’s that’s our end goal
1003
00:45:20,250 –> 00:45:22,250
how we get there,
1004
00:45:22,500 –> 00:45:25,166
where
we’re actually looking at our packaging.
1005
00:45:25,208 –> 00:45:27,041
Iteration number four.
1006
00:45:27,041 –> 00:45:29,375
Now we have more funds to
put into
1007
00:45:29,750 –> 00:45:30,500
our ideas
1008
00:45:31,875 –> 00:45:33,875
doing something totally unique.
1009
00:45:34,000 –> 00:45:37,208
Totally custom. I think
we’ve taken the off the shelf bottle
1010
00:45:37,250 –> 00:45:39,500
as far as we can go
in terms of making it
1011
00:45:39,500 –> 00:45:41,500
look unique and custom.
1012
00:45:41,666 –> 00:45:43,791
And now we’ve got a vision for
1013
00:45:44,625 –> 00:45:47,000
how the brand can really,
really stand out on the shelf
1014
00:45:47,000 –> 00:45:49,500
So and I was going to say, and also
1015
00:45:50,250 –> 00:45:51,833
that the thing is that we’re doing
1016
00:45:51,833 –> 00:45:54,208
this as still as a self-funded
1017
00:45:54,208 –> 00:45:56,208
independent business.
1018
00:45:56,250 –> 00:45:58,916
And so whatever, you know,
1019
00:46:00,458 –> 00:46:01,583
profits that we make,
1020
00:46:01,583 –> 00:46:04,583
it goes back into what we’re doing.
1021
00:46:04,708 –> 00:46:08,000
And because the way that we see
is that we’re building
1022
00:46:08,333 –> 00:46:12,166
an asset into, into the brand and, and,
1023
00:46:12,416 –> 00:46:16,500
and what we wanted to also do is to,
1024
00:46:17,041 –> 00:46:21,666
you know, I guess own the that
1025
00:46:22,375 –> 00:46:24,375
the Asian kind of heritage
1026
00:46:25,250 –> 00:46:28,250
in a very white dominated space and
1027
00:46:28,875 –> 00:46:30,875
and we wanted to
1028
00:46:31,041 –> 00:46:33,666
and you will see that with our releases
because it’s not just gin
1029
00:46:33,666 –> 00:46:37,416
that we’re looking into
and being in this
1030
00:46:37,750 –> 00:46:40,708
you know, being in this space
and looking back
1031
00:46:40,708 –> 00:46:43,875
and understanding our impact and our
1032
00:46:44,083 –> 00:46:47,125
and our forgotten influences
within the drinks industry,
1033
00:46:47,666 –> 00:46:51,541
we want
we want Tarsier, to be able to to, to,
1034
00:46:51,583 –> 00:46:54,083
to grab the influence
1035
00:46:54,083 –> 00:46:57,791
and actually educate consumers
and the bartending community
1036
00:46:58,166 –> 00:47:00,291
about the forgotten influences,
1037
00:47:00,375 –> 00:47:03,583
especially the Filipino bartenders
1038
00:47:03,833 –> 00:47:07,041
and the Filipino slaves and immigrants
1039
00:47:07,666 –> 00:47:10,208
have that have contributed
1040
00:47:10,208 –> 00:47:12,208
into what it is.
1041
00:47:12,291 –> 00:47:14,083
You know, that the current landscape
1042
00:47:14,083 –> 00:47:16,958
of the spirits category.
1043
00:47:17,750 –> 00:47:20,791
That’s phenomenal,
thank you for sharing that Sherwin.
1044
00:47:20,791 –> 00:47:24,000
And I think that’s it’s
pretty powerful stuff
1045
00:47:24,291 –> 00:47:26,541
and I guess one thing
1046
00:47:26,541 –> 00:47:28,541
I you’ve been really open
1047
00:47:28,583 –> 00:47:32,208
in sharing your experiences
and your insights along this journey.
1048
00:47:32,458 –> 00:47:35,750
And it feels like when we talk
to each other that it has been ten years
1049
00:47:36,958 –> 00:47:38,541
because it’s been a obviously
1050
00:47:38,541 –> 00:47:40,541
a very rapid cycle of learning,
1051
00:47:41,916 –> 00:47:43,916
knowing now,
1052
00:47:44,250 –> 00:47:46,166
you know, if knew
1053
00:47:46,166 –> 00:47:49,583
then what you know now,
what is the one thing
1054
00:47:49,583 –> 00:47:52,708
you would have done differently
if you’d had the chance? Wow.
1055
00:47:53,250 –> 00:47:55,791
Probably get our packaging right
from day one
1056
00:47:57,458 –> 00:48:00,416
But if we launched in what we have now
1057
00:48:01,708 –> 00:48:03,291
and I think we could have
1058
00:48:03,291 –> 00:48:05,291
accelerated our journey a lot quicker
1059
00:48:05,375 –> 00:48:08,375
but equally it’s what we did.
1060
00:48:08,375 –> 00:48:10,375
So part of the journey,
that’s where we are right now.
1061
00:48:10,375 –> 00:48:13,750
So would we have had the same trajectory
without going through
1062
00:48:13,750 –> 00:48:16,583
those trial and error learnings.
1063
00:48:17,458 –> 00:48:20,333
It’s hard to say. But it would
have certainly sped things up.
1064
00:48:20,750 –> 00:48:22,541
Sherwin Do you feel the same way?
1065
00:48:22,541 –> 00:48:24,541
For me, I think I
1066
00:48:25,833 –> 00:48:27,041
it’s starting this
1067
00:48:27,041 –> 00:48:29,041
ten years ago, you know,
1068
00:48:29,333 –> 00:48:31,791
when I had the inkling because,
1069
00:48:32,125 –> 00:48:34,916
you know, going back into I guess like
1070
00:48:35,541 –> 00:48:38,375
my experience in the spirits industry,
what we found
1071
00:48:38,375 –> 00:48:40,500
was that the emergence of craft
gin brands
1072
00:48:41,041 –> 00:48:43,041
and as year went on,
1073
00:48:43,041 –> 00:48:45,333
I was like saying
they’re missing a trick here.
1074
00:48:45,333 –> 00:48:46,666
We need to launch a gin brand.
1075
00:48:46,666 –> 00:48:47,583
We need to be.
1076
00:48:47,583 –> 00:48:49,708
We waited eight years into it
1077
00:48:50,541 –> 00:48:52,166
until we launched this brand
1078
00:48:52,166 –> 00:48:54,166
and I
1079
00:48:54,166 –> 00:48:56,208
you know, if you’ve got a gut instinct,
1080
00:48:57,083 –> 00:48:59,583
trust, trust it and go with it.
1081
00:48:59,875 –> 00:49:01,500
I like that and like that a lot.
1082
00:49:01,500 –> 00:49:04,833
And and in fact, if there’s a resounding
1083
00:49:05,375 –> 00:49:08,250
feeling
that comes from some of the interviews
1084
00:49:08,250 –> 00:49:10,666
that we have had with different
distillers across the world,
1085
00:49:11,166 –> 00:49:13,166
that is a pattern
1086
00:49:13,500 –> 00:49:16,500
that people come back
with is has an instinct.
1087
00:49:16,500 –> 00:49:19,541
I wish I’d just trusted myself.
1088
00:49:20,750 –> 00:49:22,041
And but
1089
00:49:22,041 –> 00:49:25,125
even then I think that aligns
with what Tim saying is sometimes
1090
00:49:25,291 –> 00:49:28,291
it’s the journey that allows you
to feel like you can trust yourself
1091
00:49:28,291 –> 00:49:29,000
in that confidence.
1092
00:49:29,000 –> 00:49:32,791
So definitely
do not beat yourself up about that
1093
00:49:32,791 –> 00:49:35,875
because you have built together
something incredible.
1094
00:49:36,208 –> 00:49:38,666
And before my last close,
1095
00:49:39,500 –> 00:49:40,791
if you were to encapsulate
1096
00:49:40,791 –> 00:49:43,708
Tarsier Spirits in one word,
my favourite question,
1097
00:49:44,541 –> 00:49:46,083
one word or phrase,
1098
00:49:46,083 –> 00:49:48,375
I will give you what would it be?
1099
00:49:48,416 –> 00:49:50,416
Authentic Asian experience.
1100
00:49:50,916 –> 00:49:51,708
That’s good.
1101
00:49:51,708 –> 00:49:53,708
I like that original.
1102
00:49:53,708 –> 00:49:54,750
Sherwin Do you feel.
1103
00:49:54,750 –> 00:49:56,916
So what you wanted to do is
1104
00:49:56,916 –> 00:49:59,541
and I guess, yeah, I’d echo that.
1105
00:49:59,541 –> 00:50:02,875
I think for me it’s about
1106
00:50:03,000 –> 00:50:05,000
being able to escape
1107
00:50:05,041 –> 00:50:07,833
you know, from yeah, from the ordinary.
1108
00:50:08,541 –> 00:50:10,500
I love that
1109
00:50:10,500 –> 00:50:11,750
Authentic Asian experience
1110
00:50:11,750 –> 00:50:13,791
that helps you escape from the ordinary.
1111
00:50:13,916 –> 00:50:17,125
That is the next slogan, guys. Yes.
1112
00:50:17,541 –> 00:50:18,291
You don’t
1113
00:50:18,291 –> 00:50:20,291
I’ll get my lechon
whenever you’re ready.
1114
00:50:20,750 –> 00:50:21,625
I’ll be waiting.
1115
00:50:23,875 –> 00:50:25,208
I will bring it to a close.
1116
00:50:25,208 –> 00:50:28,250
On that note, thank you both so much.
1117
00:50:28,250 –> 00:50:30,250
Not just for your time today, but
1118
00:50:30,833 –> 00:50:33,458
I’m really grateful
for what you are trying to do.
1119
00:50:33,458 –> 00:50:35,333
On a personal note,
1120
00:50:35,333 –> 00:50:37,625
you know that representation
is so important
1121
00:50:38,250 –> 00:50:40,583
for Southeast Asia and Far East culture,
1122
00:50:40,583 –> 00:50:44,541
but I think it’s so important
that you have taken those learnings
1123
00:50:44,541 –> 00:50:46,916
and you’re so happy
and open to share them
1124
00:50:47,541 –> 00:50:50,041
with others in the industry
that might follow suit.
1125
00:50:50,958 –> 00:50:52,916
So I really appreciate
1126
00:50:52,916 –> 00:50:55,500
everything that you’re doing
and the successes that you’re having.
1127
00:50:55,500 –> 00:50:57,500
And I certainly know that
1128
00:50:57,583 –> 00:50:59,583
our team are watching your Instagram
1129
00:51:00,291 –> 00:51:02,291
practically every day,
1130
00:51:02,708 –> 00:51:05,750
seeing what you’re up to
and all the antics
1131
00:51:05,750 –> 00:51:09,166
and and I must say, is a testament
to exactly what you’ve shared here,
1132
00:51:09,166 –> 00:51:11,375
is going out there meeting
1133
00:51:11,375 –> 00:51:13,708
clients,
meeting new buyers, understanding
1134
00:51:13,708 –> 00:51:15,958
how people are using your spirits
1135
00:51:15,958 –> 00:51:17,958
and how to improve continually.
1136
00:51:18,083 –> 00:51:20,250
And I think that’s a sign
of a really strong
1137
00:51:20,250 –> 00:51:23,416
and an up and coming and successful
brand.
1138
00:51:23,416 –> 00:51:25,666
And I wish you all the best of luck.
1139
00:51:26,000 –> 00:51:30,333
And if I can probably ask you for one
more thing is
1140
00:51:30,625 –> 00:51:34,833
I would love to return back to you
1141
00:51:34,833 –> 00:51:37,750
in a year, a year and a half,
and find out how you’ve been keeping,
1142
00:51:38,333 –> 00:51:40,333
especially if this new rebrand
1143
00:51:40,791 –> 00:51:42,791
comes alive, which I know it will.
1144
00:51:43,375 –> 00:51:45,375
I would love to know where you’re at
with your journey
1145
00:51:45,875 –> 00:51:48,916
as you as you move through it
1146
00:51:50,000 –> 00:51:52,041
and and
hopefully be a part of it where we can.
We’d love to find out more about your product or brand and we’d be delighted to arrange a consultation to discuss your product embellishment needs – simply fill in the form and we’ll be in touch.
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