Established by Enzo Visone, former CEO of the Campari group and investment banker Warren Scott, Essential Drinks will be a key part of the group’s vision to become a leading, independent European spirits company with global reach and world-class production and brand-building capabilities.
Quintessential says Essential Drinks offers commercial production, as well as sales and distribution services to UK and international B2B partners.
Essential managing director Karl Hayes, said: “Our role is to provide a full menu of services for brand owners. In addition to world-class production solutions, we offer customers unrivalled access in the UK to all key off-trade partners and a flexible ‘scale to bespoke’ on-trade solution, including full logistics management.”
Essential Drinks’ current partners are said to include some of the world’s best-known, premium and international spirits brands, as well as fast-growing boutique brands. Essential Drinks says it also provides UK grocery, convenience and wholesale customers with retailer brand solutions across a number of spirit categories.
Enzo Visone said: “Essential Drinks is an end-to-end solution for retailers and independent brand owners, adding capability where value can best be unlocked in the most effective and efficient manner. While the flexibility of this model allows the brand owner to invest in infrastructure and resource in areas where it has its own competitive advantage and exploits Essential Drinks access and capabilities in a very low cost and effective manner.”
Quintessential says the formation of Essential Drinks is a further step in the expansion of the Quintessential Brands group following the 2011 acquisition of G&J Greenall, the world’s second largest gin distiller which was founded in 1761.
This follows on from the recent announcement of Quintessential Brands’ partnership with Marblehead, a leading UK premium brand agency.
Quintessential Brands group says it plans to expand its production capabilities across a number of spirit categories, as well as broadening its existing distribution platform in international markets through further acquisitions and joint venture partnerships.
