When drinks behemoth Allied Domecq acquired the Malibu spirit brand earlier this year, its culinary alcohol subsidiary Thomas Lowndes jumped at the chance to develop a range of foodstuffs around the distinctive coconut rum. But how does a company go about creating a new product in this way? just-food.com’s Clare Harman investigates.
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With access to the entire brand family of Allied Domecq, the second largest spirits company in the world, Thomas Lowndes & Co ranks as the leading supplier of culinary alcohol to the food manufacturing industry. It probably also ranks as the only leading supplier in this field, but the challenges it faces in carving out this niche market are no less daunting for its sector dominance.
When Allied Domecq acquired Malibu from Guinness UDV (GUDV) on 22 May this year, Thomas Lowndes was able to add the internationally known coconut rum to its expanding portfolio of high profile alcohol brands. Close up, the stages in which the distinctive drink is being incorporated into a range of new foods provides a glimpse at a growing sector.
What does it bring to the party?
“I’d like to think that we have another Tia Maria [a liqueur spirit] on our hands,” admitted Richard Hayes, managing director of Thomas Lowndes, adding that it was immediately obvious that there were “significant opportunities to use that brand [Malibu] as a culinary alcohol [because there is] nothing else out there for branded coconut delivery in that fashion”.
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By GlobalDataThomas Lowndes’ remit is to find and use powerful brands, but it needs to fully understand “what each brand brings to the party”, that is, what it offers that will keep consumers coming back for more. It then advises on these strengths to its licensing partner, The Licensing Company, which deals with the technicalities of Malibu being used as a trademarked food ingredient.
The company already uses and licenses Courvoisier VS Cognac, the French liqueur Grand Marnier, the Scottish malt whiskey Drambuie, Lamb’s Navy Rum, Harveys Bristol Cream Sherry, Beefeater Gin and Sauza Tequila, among many others. But importantly, says Hayes, “the acquisition of Malibu represents a major opportunity for manufacturers and retailers [because it offers] expanded recipe possibilities and strong consumer appeal.”
Who drinks it?
Branded and advertised as a typical and authentic Caribbean drink, despite the fact that it is actually manufactured in Horsham, West Sussex, Malibu now counts around 2.6 million regular UK drinkers. It is the second fastest growing spirit brand in the world, and, according to figures compiled by Impact in February last year, it has enjoyed eight years of consistent global growth. In the UK, AC Nielson calculated in November and December last year that Malibu claims an 11.9% and an 11.8% value share of the on- and off-trade specialty spirits markets respectively.
Its fans are mostly female, and over 50% are under 35 years old. Regular drinkers explain that they associate the brand with good memories, relaxation and fun, escapism and exoticism. They say that they want to take the pub and club experience home with them, by buying Malibu for consumption at home.
Such emotional associations with the “seriously easy going” drink explain why, according to Thomas Lowndes, manufacturers should always choose a branded spirit above a generic alcohol. Consumers prepared to pay a premium for a known brand associate it with high quality and trust its credentials. This trust will, by association, also transfer to the food product in which the drink is used.
In acting as a signpost for quality and reliability, branded spirits are an easy way to reassure consumers, encourage them to try something new and grow profit opportunities for food manufactures. And, as an added bonus, marketing costs on the part of the manufacturer are notably reduced as Allied Domecq will continue its own high-profile advertising campaign for the brand, upping activity in the summer months (when Malibu is perceived to be most popular) and at Christmas.
How to create a food?
Finding a food offering that fits the brand value is a harder task, however, and hence Thomas Lowndes has a great deal of input in controlling the licensing of the brands and their intended food use, in order to maintain its carefully created image. Any movement towards constructing a strategy for developing food items can therefore be extremely complicated.
Sharon Riddick, consultant home economist for Thomas Lowndes, has put in much work to develop conceptual ideas of how to use Malibu in food. She brainstormed complementary ingredients, with an eye to balancing delicate flavours with the liquid alcohol. For example, said Riddick, passion fruit kills the Malibu taste, while white chocolate works well.
Luckily for Thomas Lowndes, the brand is mostly suitable for food applications in the indulgent dessert market, thus emphasising the premium nature of the drink and appealing to its female audience. Malibu foods might not be able to appeal on the fat-free front for female consumers, but with no worries that it would be better suited to a steak and ale pie effort, Riddick explained that most of the work had so far been in creating luxury creams, sorbets, mousse, or products consisting of exotic fruits steeped in the drink. In the ambient sector, Thomas Lowndes has worked to create truffles and ganaches.
Furthermore, the Caribbean appeal of the drink presents opportunities for the development of creative and unusual food concepts along the Caribbean theme, allowing manufacturers to produce new and exotic ideas that are innovative and different.
Not just “sloshing it in”
Most importantly, however, as Riddick points out, “it’s not just a case of sloshing in the Malibu.” As well as finding the right balance for taste and texture, producers must walk the tightrope of alcohol legislation. Standard drinking spirits are commonly 40% proof alcohol by volume, with liqueurs much lower. The culinary versions are a different matter, however, as Thomas Lowndes has access to the spirit after distillation has occurred, but prior to dilution (the process for reducing the strength of alcohol to a palatable level for the average consumer). The original taste of the brand is retained but culinary alcohols can be in the region of 60% alcohol by volume, in order to ensure better alcohol delivery and flavour concentration when it is incorporated into the host food product.
And, as far as food products are concerned, alcohol content can be at a maximum of 5% before duty is incurred. So, as Riddick says, somewhere between around 3% and 4% is still commercially viable.
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The resulting foods incorporating Malibu have yet to prove themselves on the supermarket shelves, but it seems hard to see the flaw in the culinary alcohol plan. Elsewhere, brands such as Guinness have proved popular in hearty meals such as meat pies, and liqueur chocolates have been lauded for years. Perhaps Thomas Lowndes will be watching Christmas sales particularly carefully, hoping to see a large take-up for indulgent foods during the party season – but even looking beyond that, the future potential amongst the UK’s increasingly good food-orientated population seems large. Cheers!
By Clare Harman, just-food.com editorial team
