Lonewolf craft gin

LoneWolf, the spirits arm of craft beer mammoth BrewDog, has cut a deal with VK owner Global Brands to distribute its gin, vodka and RTD cans in the on-trade.

Global Brands won out over two other as-yet-unnamed distributors for LoneWolf’s business in a three-way tender. The deal also covers BrewDog’s whisky brand Uncle Duke’s.

LoneWolf claimed the deal would grow sales of its posh spirits by £40m over the next two years. Its decision had been made based on “the quality of [Global Brands’] Franklin & Sons business, the innovative ideas they came forward with in the pitch process and the knowledge and enthusiasm of their people”, said LoneWolf MD Doug Bairner.

Global Brands would land LoneWolf in “the types of places where people want more from their drink and won’t accept compromise”, said its founder and chairman Steve Perez. “We know that for our customers, quality and taste is everything.”

LoneWolf made its first steps into retail in 2017, picking up listings in Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

LoneWolf has a raft of NPD in the works for the coming year. Bairner said: “Expect some different expressions of our existing spirits, some new spirits entirely and maybe a venture into some young whiskey styles”.

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