Vodka-maker sets sights on U.S.

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This article was published 13/08/2010 (5811 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AFTER a year of playing spin the bottle in Canada, Totally Organic Beverages is taking its game to the United States.

The Winnipeg-based producer of T.O. Bevy Vodka has exhausted all domestic bottling possibilities since its previous bottler, Angostura Canada, closed its doors last July. So it has signed on with Idaho-based Distilled Resources.

"There is no one else in Canada who can handle spirits who is certified organic," said Ernie McIvor, a partner in TOB.

There is a significant silver lining to the move, however. Through his research into the U.S. market, he discovered the regulatory regimes there are easier to deal with. So he has arranged for distributors in eight states, including New York and New Jersey — two of the top five states for per-capita spirit consumption.

To accompany the move, McIvor has renamed its product Naked Shot Organic Vodka, in an effort to increase its mainstream appeal.

"With T.O. Bevy Vodka we get all organic people but we don’t get other people picking it up off the shelf. We’re going after the younger, martini-drinking crowd and the premium buyers who don’t buy the cheap stuff," he said.

"We’ve done a lot of testing on this. We went through 15 different names and Naked Shot was by far the No. 1 choice by both males and females. We think it’s going to go over big time. We found T.O. Bevy Vodka wasn’t catchy enough. We will probably change the name in Canada."

Naked Shot should be available in the U.S. within the next 60 to 90 days, McIvor said, as regulators finalize the approval process.

Premium soda maker Pic-a-Pop, which used to get its bottling done at Angostura, too, is still holding out hope for a made-in-Manitoba solution. Its owner, Bart Hruda, realizes time is of the essence.

"We’re totally sold out, we have nothing left (at our warehouse)," he said, noting a dwindling number of retailers still have Blue Razzberry, Black Cheery and Strawberry flavours on their shelves.

Hruda said he has bottling options in southern Ontario or in the northern U.S. but he considers them to be last-ditch options. "Our goal is to try to continue to keep it local. The moment we lose that, then you’re just another pop brand," he said.

Gabi McCulloch, executive sales manager at Marchand-based Canadian Gold Beverages Inc. — a producer of sparkling and non-sparkling water located about 90 minutes southeast of Winnipeg — doesn’t think Hruda will have to wait long.

McCulloch said she has had a few meetings with him and they’re both waiting for Canadian Gold to finalize its glass bottling line so they can hopefully come to an agreement.

"We’ve decided we want to do a niche market with glass bottles. We will make it work (with Pic-a-Pop). They’re a Manitoba brand, we use a Manitoba water source, it’s nice and local," she said.

The challenges faced by TOB and Pic-a-Pop have caught the attention of Dave Shambrock, executive-director of the Manitoba Food Processors Association. Shambrock said their situations highlight the vulnerability of local companies that rely on outsourced manufacturing services and the need for a value-added processing facility in the province.

"If there’s a good business plan to it, there could be some larger companies that might look at it as an investment and get involved. It could be a government-industry partnership," he said.

Meanwhile, the mothballed Angostura plant remains for sale. Officials from the Trinidad & Tobago company could not be reached for comment.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca