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Wine and gin hybrid breaks into US market

Hybrid wine and gin drinks brand Gin King, which is based in the UK county of Surrey, has secured a £90,000 (US$112,000) export deal with a US wine merchant.

Gin King will capitalise on the growing interest in gin in the US

The brand has entered into an agreement with merchant and importer Plume Ridge, which will see its lower-alcohol products stocked in around 350 Cost Plus World Market stores across the US.

The move will increase the brand’s annual turnover by 10% to £1 million (US$1.24m) by the end of the fiscal year.

“The recent US deal is a really exciting step for us on our exporting journey,” said John Worontschak, managing director at The Gin King Co. “Being a very young company, our turnover is always increasing, and exports are an integral part of this growth, currently accounting for 12% of total sales.”

Gin King, a sparkling alcoholic beverage that blends wine sourced from vineyards in the south of England and London Dry gin, launched in 2017. Its team made contact with its US partner after receiving a grant from the Department for International Trade (DIT), enabling it to attend the ProWein trade show in Germany.

“The UK ‘ginaissance’ is booming with companies like Gin King driving its success and capitalising on the global demand for quality British-made alcohol,” said Liz Truss, secretary of state for international trade.

“Distillers across the country should be grasping these international opportunities and showing the rest of the world that the UK is ready to trade.”

Gin King is already available in a number of export markets, including Switzerland, Germany, Iceland, Austria and Canada.

According to DIT, its launch into the US will benefit from the nation’s burgeoning interest in gin. In 2018, UK gin exports to the US increased by 3.6% to £190.9m (US$237m), the DIT stated.

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