Premium New Zealand tonic water and mixer brand East Imperial sees a big opportunity to expand in Asia, with the recent reopening of China expected to drive a tourism boom in 2023. The company recently appointed SUTL Group to distribute its products in Vietnam and Singapore, expanding on the agreements it already has with Leung Yick in Hong Kong and Wen Hua Hang Wine Spirits Company in China. “We’re only a couple of weeks into the new year, but we’ve got a real sense of momentu
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Premium New Zealand tonic water and mixer brand East Imperial sees a big opportunity to expand in Asia, with the recent reopening of China expected to drive a tourism boom in 2023. The company recently appointed SUTL Group to distribute its products in Vietnam and Singapore, expanding on the agreements it already has with Leung Yick in Hong Kong and Wen Hua Hang Wine Spirits Company in China. “We’re only a couple of weeks into the new year, but we’ve got a real sense of momentum building up and this should carry on until the end of February, going into the end of the first quarter. So far, things are looking good,” Anthony Burt, founder and CEO of East Imperial, told Inside Retail. Anthony Burt, founder and CEO of East ImperialThe story so farBurt launched East Imperial in 2013 after spotting an opportunity in the drinks market for a more premium mixer brand. “Companies like Schweppes and a younger brand out of England, called Fever Tree, all still behave like soft drinks. They position themselves like soft drinks, so there was a definite opportunity to be more premium,” he noted.Believing that New Zealand was not ready for a premium mixer brand, Burt entered the Singapore market early on, and it has been a cornerstone of the brand’s success thus far.“We now have 12 different flavours in our product portfolio, we market our products to over 20 countries globally. It’s been quite a journey. We’ve had to navigate through a pandemic, supply chain challenges, and it’s not been all plain sailing,” he added.He feels the challenges of the past few years have made East Imperial more resilient. The team is always striving to be more agile and aware of opportunities both offline and online.The launch in Vietnam presents an exciting opportunity for the business to grow in the luxury hotel and hospitality scene, according to Burt. With an estimated 100 hotel projects currently under construction in the country, Vietnam’s tourism sector is expanding, with international tourist arrivals expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2024.When it comes to China, East Imperial has taken a different approach to its distribution strategy. The company has enlisted local know-how to tackle the market and has benefited greatly from this.“We’re just happy to see the restrictions being lifted in China, and with a lot of people travelling and a surge of demand expected, we have a lot of ambitions for China going into 2023. It’s a massive region for us,” Burt said. It’s been challengingThe reopening is a welcome change from the past few years, when East Imperial was impacted by some of the strictest Covid restrictions in the world.“As an export business, we were not able to travel. There is no substitute for being on the ground. Hospitality is a people business. It’s about being in front of each other, talking to each other, getting to know each other, and serving each other. It’s not about Zoom,” Burt said.Supply chain issues are still a lingering issue for the company, with elongated periods for deliveries, and costs have even ballooned to five times more than the usual pricing structure for the company.“It’s made margins very strained. Our main focus is on margin improvement. Our biggest opportunity is the direct to consumer channel. Now around 10 per cent of our business is from DTC. We’re on Amazon in the US and Australia,” he added.Interestingly, East Imperial has not raised the price of its products since 2013, and Burt acknowledged that the company is absorbing the pain of cost increases. But that could change in certain regions depending on prevailing market conditions.“The US is a big focus for us in 2023. We’re going to concentrate on great listings, top hotel chains, best restaurants, best hotel bars and best cocktail bars. Of course, China is also a focus, as a massive surge of demand is expected with the reopening,” he said.Beyond overseas expansion, Burt is eyeing the burgeoning home cocktail scene as a growth driver for the business. “A lot of effort has been put into our websites to create content about how to create beautiful cocktails, or educating people about the finer points. We are looking to partner with certain brands to create new opportunities in terms of how we market ourselves,” he said.
