Blackwood will challenge Amarula and Bailey's in SA

Cape Town - The Scots are coming to South Africa to pick a fight not only with Amarula Cream but also with Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur.

Blackwood Distillers, which is based in Scotland, was formed in 2002.

Caroline Whitfield, the chief executive of Blackwood Distillers, said from Johannesburg yesterday the company would like to be thought of as an innovative firm in the liquor sector rather than the biggest and the most profitable.

She was in South Africa to promote the launch of Blackwood's gin, vodka and vanilla vodka cream liqueur brands on the local market.

The company's global expansion over the past two years has included the US, Ireland, Sweden, Iceland, Austria, Germany, Japan and Canada (Ontario, Alberta). It is about to launch into five more countries, including South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

The world's first vodka cream liqueur comes from Tom Jago, the creator of Bailey's Irish Cream, Malibu and many other world-renowned drinks.

Jago's Vanilla Vodka Cream is made from Blackwood's Vodka and cream from Scotland.

The company's two other spirits are Blackwood Premium Nordic Vodka and Blackwood Vintage Dry Gin.

When put in the freezer, the front panel of the vodka bottle changes colour to iceberg blue, indicting when it is chilled to perfection.

Whitfield said the company planned to build Shetland's first whisky distillery - it is the last region of Scotland without a distillery.

The countries where Blackwood had the biggest response were those which were more open to innovative products, she said.

She was confident that Blackwood Distillers would succeed in South Africa because when it exhibited at the Fine Food and Wine Fair earlier this year it was "mobbed".

The company was working with the Spar group, which acts as the importer, and its brands would be sold at Spar's Tops liquor stores, which were often located next to one of its supermarkets.

Whitfield said the company was looking to launch between 5 000 and 10 000 cases and would spend 17 percent on marketing.

It was already in talks with suppliers to see if they could bottle the brands, especially Jago's, in South Africa. The gin would sell at a premium in the R75 to R90 price category while the vodka would sell in the R75 category.

Whitfield was, however, not worried about price competition, she said.

Asked if the company was not taking on Amarula and Bailey's liqueurs, Whitfield said it was not so much as taking on the established brands because Jago's was vodka and vanilla based.

Blackwood vodka and cream liqueur was lumped with the two liqueur creams, but not by choice, she said.