“Celebrating life, love and friends!” Now there’s a life mantra for anyone to get behind! When I heard this was the tagline of our interviewee, Dutch-based leading craft distiller, Toorank, I knew it was going to be a good session! We work closely with our Dutch IP colleagues across all sectors, but our mutual passion for F&D is especially strong and so we were delighted this time to speak to a Dutch company, not least one with over 40 years of experience in the alcoholic beverage sector. Serving customers in over 50 markets worldwide, Toorank produce spirits and other alcoholic products for own brands and an extensive list of over 300 challenger, third party, and private label brands. Quite some going. We caught up with their inhouse legal counsel, Monika van Zijl, to find out how they live out their tagline and how they see the future of the industry.
Q. The alcohol industry is as competitive as ever. How do you stand out in such a crowded market?
First of all, by being creative and flexible: creative in flavour and flexible in solutions. We have our own in-house experts who can develop ultimate liquid taste sensations. We are creative in developing brand names, brand stories and designs as well. That is perfect for developing own products, but also for our extensive contract bottling business. That is our second advantage; we are not just an alcohol brand, we are also a blending and bottling company for third parties. We can produce almost any kind of spirit that the customer wants. We blend, create new mixes and/or refine any liquid. We guide our contract bottling clients through the complete process to create a great new alcoholic beverage, whatever the size and whatever the packaging. This all-in service makes us stand out. We do not have to diversify; we are already very diverse when it comes to type of beverage and possibilities to blend and bottle.
Flexibility also comes into play with regard to the type of customer we serve. Because we have many customers from the US, Europe and UK, but also Asia, the challenges are different for every market. That is also why working in this field is so exciting – no two customers, target markets or drinks are ever the same, so you have to understand the customer and their challenges, then learn, adapt former solutions and create new ones.
Q. How important is brand and innovation for you?
Very important. Our brands are how we communicate with the customer. Every year the alcoholic beverage market introduces new trends to test our experience and agility. We were one of the first to introduce “ready to serve cocktails”, for example, offering 16 different flavours under the brand Coppa Cocktails. Right now, these type of pre-mixed cocktails are everywhere, but it’s our bottle, sleeve and label design that really stands out compared with other brands.
Q. We know that you do contract brewing for third parties as well as brewing your own products. How have you seen these demands change over the last few years – is there any reflection on the wider change in the market e.g. the younger generation drinking less, more focus generally on lower/no-alcohol products and so on?
We have some loyal contract bottling clients with strong brands, which are leaders in the market. We don’t see any change in, for example, miniature bottle requests. These “shots” are as popular as ever at festivals, but also in bars and clubs. We do see other trends in type of alcoholic beverage, though. For example, tequila has been an upcoming spirit so we see an increasing demand in blending and bottling requests for this specific product. Likewise for pre-mixed cocktails, which boomed during the pandemic when people were seeking a home-based alternative to bars and restaurants; requiring no preparation, these drinks are particularly convenient and relatively inexpensive, making them of real interest to the customer.
There is a wider trend for non-alcoholic options, yes, for which there are various consumer-led reasons. Producers are becoming more and more advanced in creating alcohol-free alternatives that taste as good as the original alcohol variant. At least for beer and wine this is the case as well as the much-loved “mocktail”. The addition of alcohol is quite determining for the taste of the end product, so with products that contain more alcohol, like spirits, meeting the consumer’s taste expectations is much harder. So for low alcoholic drinks up to 10% we see an increasing growing market; above that level we are not yet convinced.
Q. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for Toorank over the next few years?
The strict and constantly changing rules that differ per country are particularly challenging - but that’s also where it gets interesting for me as legal counsel! If we could for instance solve all different labelling requirements by using QR codes that automatically adjust for location (by country), that would make bottling much more consistent and potentially universal within Europe, which would massively reduce waste and cost.
Other opportunities we create ourselves - by being the best in our area of expertise and by offering fair prices and real diversity to our clients. Since the alcoholic beverage market is constantly changing, by being creative and decisive and with the ability to move quickly, we can stay ahead of and maximise new trends that create these new opportunities.
So there you have it: a company with the experience to recognise but also the agility to capitalise on and even drive market trends in this thriving and constantly evolving sector. Cheers to another 40 years of that, or as the Dutch would say, proost!
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this article further, please contact Rowena Tolley or your usual advisor at Kilburn & Strode.