42 Below Flavours Approved For The US

42 Below Flavours Approved For The US

Auckland, 2nd March 2004: Vodka maker, 42 BELOW, today announced to the New Zealand Stock Exchange that it has gained US approval for their flavoured vodkas, Passionfruit and Feijoa by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

The application for approval was submitted to the TTB by 42 Below over one year ago. Following exhaustive testing of the beverages and a review of the labelling of the product, approval was finally provided.

42 Below Pure hit the key US export market in July 2003 and is gaining a strong foothold in the 400.5 million litre U.S. vodka market. 3000 accounts have been secured in only 8 months due to the unique sales approach of the company including partnerships and education/incentives of leading bar owners and managers.

Vodka is the largest sector in the US distilled spirits market and specialist flavours are a rapidly growing category of luxury vodka. When 42 BELOW Passionfruit and Feijoa hit the NZ market, sales increased by 100%.

Shane McKillen, the US Country Manager is enthusiastic. “The growth in vodka is happening at the premium end of the market, where we’re at. Flavoured vodka has the highest growth within this segment and there are no other Passionfruit or Feijoa vodkas available in the world. We expect the approval of two of our specialist flavours to add incrementally to our growth. Premium vodka is currently 41% of the total vodka market (by revenue), where 44 million cases are sold annually. It is where the distributors are putting most of their efforts”.

42 BELOW is in California, Nevada, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, Arizona, Virginia, Illinois, Washington D.C. and from this month they will be in New York and Georgia. 42 BELOW export sales are rapidly growing in other markets, with 4,500 bars on board worldwide.

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