Virtual Travel Retail Expo exhibitor Indian drinks company Wild Tiger Beverages has appointed Shannon Retail Innovation as its travel retail representative for inflight globally and select retailers in other channels.
As reported, Shannon Retail Innovation was formed recently by highly respected travel retail industry veteran Joe Harvey in Ireland.
Harvey is working with an array of established and emergent brands in travel retail and other channels.
“We at Wild Tiger Beverages are thrilled to leap forward with Shannon Retail Innovation to represent our business interests in the travel retail channel,” said Wild Tiger Beverages Founder and ‘Top Cat’ Gautom Menon. “Joe’s acumen, experience and relationships in travel retail are unrivalled. This partnership further reinforces our belief in the inflight retail and buy on board business model, which would be a special focus area for us, given Joe’s expertise and our innovative exclusives.
“These are tough times indeed, but with the right partnerships, product mix and innovation we can get through this and establish ourselves as a key supplier in the channel. Joe and I look forward to meeting buyers and other friends in the industry, virtually of course, at the inaugural Moodie Davitt Virtual Expo in October.
“Joe has believed in our brand and ethos since day one, and it’s ‘Grrrrrrrreat’ knowing he is a super fan of our Spiced Rum!”
Harvey said: “One of the core values of Shannon Retail Innovation is working with exciting entrepreneurial brands and partnering together to see the different products flourish. It’s especially at this time that we need new exciting products and we believe strongly that Wild Tiger will exceed our expectations.
“For a partnership to succeed, you need innovation, the ability to offer something different to the consumer and also be conscious of the younger market and Wild Tiger have that. We are super excited to partner with them and look forward to introducing new consumers to their amazing range of products.”
Commenting on the company’s appearance at the inaugural Virtual Travel Retail Expo, Menon said: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and the call has been answered by the progressive Moodie Davitt team. We at Wild Tiger Beverages are thrilled to take a leap into the inaugural Virtual Travel Retail Expo. We believe this initiative to be a much needed one, that would benefit suppliers, regardless of their geographies or size. It will be a true ‘homecoming’ of the travel retail industry.”
Last year, Gautom Menon and fellow Wild Tiger executive Paul George Vedanayagam famously completed an epic 65-day road trip from Kerala to Cannes, arriving just in time for the TFWA World Exhibition. The project – dubbed The Roar Trip – was an awareness and fund-raising campaign for tiger conservation, a cause close to Gautom’s heart. Via phone and social media, The Moodie Davit Report tracked Gautom and Paul’s every kilometre, producing a hugely popular daily media called The Moodie Davitt Roarport.
