Tito’s Handmade Vodka has secured distribution in South Africa through a partnership with Cape Town spirits company Truman & Orange.
Tito’s said duty free and tourist destinations catering to international visitors, particularly Americans, will play a key role in helping to establish Tito’s in Africa’s spirits market.
Besides travel retail, Tito’s will focus initially on premium accounts in the on- and off-trade, with a primary focus on Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Tito’s International Managing Director John McDonnell said: “Tito’s journey continues with South Africa. We are excited to reach this milestone and broaden our global footprint in a market that has demonstrated great growth potential for the vodka category and American craft brands. Truman & Orange is a great fit for Tito’s and we look forward to working with them to provide retailers and operators with a quality vodka that is in demand and will drive sales.”
Truman & Orange Founding Partner Rowan Leibbrandt commented: “We are excited to introduce Tito’s Handmade Vodka to increasingly discerning South African drinkers and make it available to international visitors who will now be able to drink their favourite hand-crafted vodka in South Africa. South Africa has a well-developed premium retail channel and we anticipate Tito’s having national availability in a short space of time.
“We expect Tito’s will be well received by our growing Millennial population who are looking for premium, craft spirits brands and take a particular interest in American-made products. ‘From the USA’ is a strong provenance in South Africa and tends to stand for high quality.”
According to IWSR 2016, vodka is the third-largest category in South Africa and has been growing between +7-11% annually over the past decade. The country’s burgeoning vodka market is being driven by its emerging Millennial population which is keen to discover new spirits brands, especially those that are premium, authentic and have real stories behind them, Tito’s said.
