By John Mair In London
El Dorado, the prize product of Guyana’s sugar industry was re-launched as a premium rum product at a convivial event at the Guyana High Commission in London on April 24, 2008, Previously, Guyana’s finest took its place on the supermarket shelves with all other rum products but now Demerara Distillers Limited have appointed a new distributor in the UK – Inspiritbrands Limited with many years of experience in marketing rum.
They advised repositioning and have persuaded DDL to take the product upmarket and into bars rather than concentrating on retail. Inspirit Managing Director James Shelbourne told me “It’s always best for brands to break on trade before off trade.” He did, however, forecast some short-term pain before long-term gain.
El Dorado, the multi-prize winning product of the company steered to success by Yesu Persaud and Komal Samaroo over the last four decades from their Kingston Headquarters and Diamond Distillery, has so far failed to gain a big foothold in the spirits market outside of the UK diaspora.
Other Caribbean brands like Bacardi and Captain Morgan have stolen a march on ‘Guyana’s Gold.’ At the relaunch, Guyana’s veteran High Commissioner in London, Laleshwar Singh, welcomed DDL, Inspirit, the West Indian Spirits and Wine Association and the audience to what is his High Commission and praised the good work of the company in Guyana and the rest of the world.
The new distributors have also convinced DDL to produce a clear three-year-old white rum to make into cocktails as well as the more traditional amber 5, 12, 15, 21 and 25 year-old products. Komal Samaroo, the Executive Vice President of DDL declared this “great new move” for his company’s brands. That move, though, is not without controversy.
Some in the sixty-strong audience consisting mainly of the UK diaspora were voicing disquiet, not at the new positioning but the new prices, a bottle of fifteen-year-old El Dorado now retailing at thirty pounds. One prominent diaspora member declared she would drink the samples on offer that night but not buy it. Others agreed.
This move from commodity to premium is a drastic and radical one for the El Dorado brand. But DDL does have a history of success, having in the first place converted the rum commodity into the brand and taken it to international awards. Whether going up-market works, time will tell. For Guyana’s sake one can only hope that the phrase ‘El Dorado on the rocks’ becomes as commonly heard in bars as ‘Bacardi on the rocks.’
