Tidal Rum seeks £150,000 investment

British brand Tidal Rum is hoping to raise more than £150,000 (US$208,000) to grow its presence in the UK on-trade.

The brand has created a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds and expand its distribution in pubs, bars and restaurants.

Tidal Rum has already secured on-trade distribution with wholesalers including Matthew Clark, Amathus Drinks, Enotria & Coe and Speciality Drinks.

Rum fans can already find the brand in venues such as Daylesford, Annabel’s, Groucho Club, Maison François, Stanley’s Chelsea and London Shell Co.

The money will be used to support the brand’s key business objectives, such as sales, marketing and social media.

Co-founders Harry Couthard and Ben Clyde-Smith said: “This is a hugely exciting time for the brand and an opportunity for consumers to be a part of our journey and grow with us.

“We have created a completely unique spirit that has a distinctive coastal identity and reflects the tidal landscape across Jersey and the British Isles, bringing with it a sense of adventure that should be explored by all.

“We’re now ready to grow even bigger and are very much looking forward to investors joining us and being apart of the huge ambitions we have for Tidal Rum.”

Tidal Rum is a blend of four cask-aged rums from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic.

The rum is also infused with ‘lightly oak smoked’ pepper dulse seaweed, a botanical known as the ‘truffle of the sea’ and found at low tides in Jersey.

For more details, visit www.seedrs.com/the-tidal-rum.

In October last year, the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) crowned rum the ‘drink of lockdown’. WSTA figures showed UK rum sales rose by 38% in the three months from April to June 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Total rum sales were valued at £119m (US$165m) in the 2020 quarter.

Earlier this year, we explored the plight of Caribbean rum producers to protect the category’s provenance.