SB meets… Alexandra Rasmusson Rankloo, Nordic Beverage Company

The sales and marketing head of new firm Nordic Beverage Company on sustainability, the low-ABV trend and challenging the big players.

Alexandra Rasmusson Rankloo is head of sales and marketing at Nordic Beverage Company

Please tell our readers about Nordic Beverage Company

Nordic Beverage Company, or Nobeco, is a Swedish company operating within the wine and spirits industry. As we control the entire production process, we strive to always keep sustainability in mind in all aspects of the business. A goal of ours is to act as a modern company, always considering the latest trends as well as building a range of brands and products that will live over time. We believe that alcoholic beverages and an active lifestyle necessarily don’t need to be two separate ways of living, but a healthy balance is the key to a long and happy life. This is reflected in our brands as well as in our relation to our employees, partners and customers.

What type of brands will you be releasing?

Nobeco will produce a number of SKUs, but the core range will consist of affordable products with a great look and feel. Products that our consumers should feel confident about putting out on display, whether they are having a quiet dinner or a raging party. The core range will consist of several trendier products such as flavoured gin and fun shots.

Which markets will you target?

The brands within Nobeco will be represented in a number of markets across the globe. As we control the brands ourselves, we have the ability to control the distribution as well. We will start with the Scandinavian domestic markets and travel retail, and hopefully expand from there.

How is your company unique in the spirits industry?

Wow, I could probably give you a hundred reasons, but I will try to narrow it down. The idea of an eco-friendly and trend-adaptive company came to life when a mother and daughter shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc on a terrace overlooking the ocean in Cannes. We are a family-owned company with the ambition to challenge the big players. All of our products are made from organic alcohol and they are produced in Sweden, at Sweden’s only organic distillery.

Which do you think are some of the most exciting spirits trends at the moment?

Flavoured gin, low-ABV products and the continuously growing shot trend in Scandinavia. Although we realise that there is hype around alcohol-free substitutes, unfortunately they are being sold at almost the same price as alcoholic beverages. At some point the consumers will realise that they essentially pay for flavoured water. However, simply lowering the ABV is still a way of being responsive to the consumers’ needs. We have combined the increasing shot trend with lower-ABV to offer a product that appeals to our target consumers.

Regarding flavoured gin we see new products popping up all the time. Unfortunately, many of these products do not taste at all like gin as the flavour itself dominates the product. We believe that, even though consumers buy flavoured gin, they want the gin as well. If not, they would simply buy another flavoured spirit, right? We have spent a lot of time creating the perfect mix between an actual gin and a flavoured spirit.

What are your plans for next year?

Following the successful launch of our first shots, we will release an additional three to four products as part of our ‘creatures’ collection. We are very quick on our feet and a trend-adaptive company, so you never know if there will be other launches as well.

What role do you see Nordic Beverage Company playing in the industry into the future?

We are the smaller company that will compete with the big ones; filling the gaps they sometimes forget exist. Our ambition is, of course, to grow. But we have made a promise to ourselves and our customers: we will always strive to keep the mentality of a smaller company.