Speaker 1: Many types of alcohol have rebranded, refined, or looked for
Speaker 1: a new cohort of consumers, think tequila, whiskey or cognac,
Speaker 1: but not rum. Now the brand ten to one is
Speaker 1: looking to change that. It is launching here in the UK,
Speaker 1: having won a Hall of accolades in the beverages world
Speaker 1: has Britain Mark's Black History Month this October. Joining me
Speaker 1: now in studio is Bloomberg Reported tia Adebayo, who spotted
Speaker 1: this story, and Mark Cuasey Fowl, who is founder and
Speaker 1: CEO of ten to one Rum. Mark Cuaisey, Welcome to
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. Thank you for your time. Just first ye
Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about the product, how you
Speaker 1: came up with it and how you're selling it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, Well, first of all, thanks so much for
Speaker 2: having me on the program. You know, I'm somebody who's
Speaker 2: very proudly from the Caribbean, born and raised in Trondad,
Speaker 2: and to be able to have spent most of my
Speaker 2: adult life living between the US and the UK, and
Speaker 2: that's been a big part of the inspiration for ten
Speaker 2: to one.
Speaker 3: You know, I looked at the category.
Speaker 2: First as a consumer with a bit of a point
Speaker 2: of curiosity, and a point.
Speaker 3: Of frustration really believing that RUM.
Speaker 2: Had been relegated to a fairly underappreciated place in the
Speaker 2: hearts and minds of medic consumers and actually didn't bear
Speaker 2: that much resemblance on the international circuit to what I
Speaker 2: know and love and appreciate coming from the Caribbean.
Speaker 3: And so really, after a long.
Speaker 2: Career in different elements of the consumer products world, decided
Speaker 2: to venture out on my own and really bring the
Speaker 2: brand tend onto life with this idea to reimagine the
Speaker 2: RUM category, to reinvigorate it and bring a little bit
Speaker 2: more of that Caribbean authenticity and Caribbean magic to market.
Speaker 4: So you've successfully launched this reimagination of RUM in the US.
Speaker 4: Now you're expanding to the UK. What sort of differences
Speaker 4: have you noticed in the process and why now in
Speaker 4: the UK?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, the UK has been on
Speaker 2: my ridar for quite some time, you know, for a
Speaker 2: number of reasons.
Speaker 3: I mean, first and foremost, I mean the UK.
Speaker 2: When you think about some of the top markets globally
Speaker 2: where you want to capture the hearts and minds of consumers,
Speaker 2: the UK ranks right at the top of that list.
Speaker 2: You know, so many incredible accounts, not just in London
Speaker 2: or the greater London area, but throughout the broader United Kingdom,
Speaker 2: and so really I think sort of bringing some of
Speaker 2: that story, having now now seen five years of success
Speaker 2: in the US, bringing that to the UK has been
Speaker 2: I think again forefront for us as a business for
Speaker 2: quite some time. It is also worthwhile noting that there
Speaker 2: is a very strong Caribbean diasporic population that is a
Speaker 2: force there in London and in the UK, and certainly
Speaker 2: being able to share some of this story with them
Speaker 2: is you know, I think brings on a different level
Speaker 2: of meaning and inspiration for us as a brand.
Speaker 3: And last but not least, some of my own personal connections.
Speaker 2: You know, actually I studied at Cambridge many years ago.
Speaker 2: My twin sister lives in the UK with her family
Speaker 2: as well, and so obviously it's nice to bring a
Speaker 2: little bit of the tent to one magic for them
Speaker 2: to enjoy as well.
Speaker 1: I wonder what you're hoping for in terms of sales
Speaker 1: and also whether you're trying to raise funds in the UK.
Speaker 1: A new survey by Opinion Matters that took place last
Speaker 1: year shows that three quarters of UK black business owners
Speaker 1: who asked have found it challenging to raise funds to
Speaker 1: kickstart businesses compared to forty six percent of their non
Speaker 1: black counterparts. Are their challenges to raising money? Were you
Speaker 1: to go down that route in the UK?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think, I mean listen approaching the
Speaker 2: UK market with a ton of optimism and excitement. To
Speaker 2: be honest, I think there's a very fertile ground there
Speaker 2: for us, certainly in the rum category. As I said,
Speaker 2: to bring a little bit more of that magic that
Speaker 2: maybe the category is the blacking over time, I think
Speaker 2: the point that you're raising around black businesses or black
Speaker 2: calendar businesses is a very valid one. I think one
Speaker 2: of the big challenges that those types of businesses have
Speaker 2: often faced is a little bit of a this perception
Speaker 2: that the stories that they're telling are perhaps for a
Speaker 2: a fairly narrow audience or a fairly narrow set of
Speaker 2: product offerings.
Speaker 3: And I think that's not true.
Speaker 2: In the case of ten to one, for example, I
Speaker 2: often tell people that so much of the story of
Speaker 2: ten to one does not require you to be from
Speaker 2: the Caribbean with a Trinidad you know, Jamaican passport. You know,
Speaker 2: if you're right there in London or in Manchester. Inspired
Speaker 2: by the Caribbean music, the art, the fashion, the food,
Speaker 2: You're going to find so many points of resonance with
Speaker 2: what we're creating. And so I think for us, we've
Speaker 2: always tried to, I think, expand that aperture and make
Speaker 2: sure that the story, the brand, the product feel like
Speaker 2: it's accessible to more folks. And the hope is that
Speaker 2: then when you think about our fund raising and attracting
Speaker 2: investors and things of that nature, you are able to
Speaker 2: maybe sort of climb.
Speaker 3: That hill where others have struggled in the past.
Speaker 4: I mean, you mentioned that you don't necessarily need to
Speaker 4: be from a Caribbean background to appreciate rum, but you
Speaker 4: have noted that the marketing of the drink definitely relies
Speaker 4: on some old tropes around pirates and plantation you're trying
Speaker 4: to change. Can you speak to the importance of having
Speaker 4: black founders and executives when it comes to challenging perceptions
Speaker 4: like these.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: I had a mentor of mine many years ago who
Speaker 2: very wisely and very simply.
Speaker 3: Said, you know, if you don't tell your.
Speaker 2: Own story yourself, someone else is going to tell it
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 3: I think if you look.
Speaker 2: At RAM as a category historically, that's exactly what has happened.
Speaker 2: I think this reliance on a fairly narrow, caricatured sort
Speaker 2: of view of the space, a lot of a lot
Speaker 2: of pirates, a lot of sea monsters, a lot of
Speaker 2: plantations and old fables and anybody who has been anywhere
Speaker 2: around the Caribbean.
Speaker 3: But if you have a friend who's from the Caribbean,
Speaker 3: you know it's.
Speaker 2: An incredibly rich cultural tapestry. There's ra de vive, the spontaneity,
Speaker 2: the high energy, the love of life.
Speaker 3: There's so many other incredible stories to be told, and.
Speaker 2: So at Tanjhan we made a very simple decision, which
Speaker 2: is to tell of those stories instead. And from the
Speaker 2: five years that we've had in market in the US,
Speaker 2: I think there's been a lot of resonance around that.
Speaker 3: It seems to be a story and a point of
Speaker 3: view that has been working quite well. And so now
Speaker 3: I'm excited to bring that to the UK. Up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and that surely chimes in also with Black
Speaker 1: History Month, of course, which is a celebrated marked in
Speaker 1: October in the UK, the theme this year being reclaiming Narratives.
Speaker 1: I wonder what is your view though, as you say,
Speaker 1: when you have a foot in both the US and
Speaker 1: the UK on the role back in the US of
Speaker 1: DEI programs in universities and also in some businesses in
Speaker 1: the US, is that a concern? Is that becoming an
Speaker 1: issue actively for you when you seek funding.
Speaker 2: It hasn't presented as an issue for US just yet
Speaker 2: when it comes to whether it's fundraising or seeking out
Speaker 2: new partners or thinks of that major look. I think
Speaker 2: the reality is that you're going to see a little
Speaker 2: bit of a pendulum string over time with these things, right,
Speaker 2: I mean, over the last four five years, probably from
Speaker 2: the rise of you know, the COVID global pandemic till now,
Speaker 2: I think you saw a pretty big spike in the
Speaker 2: number of D and I initiatives in the US and
Speaker 2: further afield. And now obviously you've seen a.
Speaker 3: Little bit of a pushback or pullback rather for some
Speaker 3: of those initiatives.
Speaker 2: The good news is and you're always going to find
Speaker 2: pockets of folks who understand the value of and to me,
Speaker 2: those things are less about sort of the DEE and
Speaker 2: I per se, but really about an acknowledgement that there
Speaker 2: are different cultural viewpoints different perspectives and all have a
Speaker 2: seat of the table and all have something to offer.
Speaker 2: We found that there are enough of those pockets in
Speaker 2: the US. My hope is that we'll find that there
Speaker 2: are also a number of those pockets in the UK.
Speaker 2: And with that sort of support, was that sort of
Speaker 2: win in your sales because you every chance to be.
Speaker 4: Successful Staying with that theme of di in the States,
Speaker 4: before you founded ten to one, you also had a
Speaker 4: very illustrious career at Starbucks, the youngest VP at the time,
Speaker 4: I believe. And it's a company which has had its
Speaker 4: fair share of issues when it comes to race relations.
Speaker 4: Bloomberg reported that its suffered big losses in negative press
Speaker 4: reports related to a racist incident at a store in Philadelphia.
Speaker 4: As a former employee of star Wars, can you point
Speaker 4: to opportunities for the brand to improve when it comes
Speaker 4: to race relations.
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, I think you know they're opportunity for everyone
Speaker 2: across the board. And I think a lot of these
Speaker 2: things should start with being a more active and more
Speaker 2: willing listener. I'm happy to sit across the tieble from
Speaker 2: someone else and understand their point.
Speaker 3: If you want to figure out how where you can
Speaker 3: lean into support.
Speaker 2: Listen, I'll see that as a former executive at Starbucks,
Speaker 2: I had nothing but an incredible experience there. I was
Speaker 2: very lucky and privileged to have someone like Howard Schultz,
Speaker 2: who was the founder and CEO of Starbucks, a personal
Speaker 2: mentor of mine, who gave me an incredible opportunity there
Speaker 2: at the company for a number of years, an incredible
Speaker 2: place to grow and learn, and actually I would almost
Speaker 2: describe it as a bit of a finishing school for me,
Speaker 2: as a bit of a precursor to my time at
Speaker 2: ten to one. I do know that the folks that
Speaker 2: were there and shared the executive suite at the time
Speaker 2: had a great deal of passion and compassion for issues
Speaker 2: around sort.
Speaker 3: Of building a place, a sense of belonging, a super
Speaker 3: welcoming nature.
Speaker 2: I don't think every company gets it right all the
Speaker 2: time everywhere, and so I think it's a function of
Speaker 2: whenever those moments happened during what you can to again
Speaker 2: actively the sun, engage communities wherever possible, and.
Speaker 3: You know, I think, do what you can to set
Speaker 3: up right.
Speaker 2: But overall, I would say my experience there was was
Speaker 2: an overwhelming, overwhelmingly positive one.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's an interesting point. I just want to end
Speaker 1: on something light to tell me how you drink your rum.
Speaker 3: It's a good place to end.
Speaker 2: So you know, with ten to one, one of the
Speaker 2: hall marks of our is it's versatility where we're creating
Speaker 2: these exceptional pan Caribbean blends, bringing RUMs together from Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica,
Speaker 2: the Dominican Republic, even Ghana.
Speaker 3: Be's of the cribbin in a single bottle.
Speaker 2: And with that versatility, we encourage folks to experience to
Speaker 2: run on the tone sibly rocks, the splash of soda,
Speaker 2: water of coconut water, which is how we would enjoy
Speaker 2: it intro of that in the Caribbean. So really clean,
Speaker 2: easy mixers that maintain the integrity of the rum. If
Speaker 2: you're looking for a delightful part deal a rum, Old
Speaker 2: Fashion with our dog is extraordinary and a classic actory
Speaker 2: with our white I think we also we'll also think
Speaker 2: to capture hats and change some minds along the way.
Speaker 1: Okay, Mark crazy Foul, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 1: us and for your recommendations. Mark Crazy Fowl is the
Speaker 1: founder and CEO of ten to one Rum and Tiblinberg
Speaker 1: Reported too Audabaya, Thank you so much for joining me
Speaker 1: on this story, for bringing it to our attention as
Speaker 1: the UK, of course, marks at Black History Month also
Speaker 1: this month. Thank you