Meet The Producer: Kold Group

With each passing day steadily getting warmer, discerning retailers will be assessing their alcohol options with utmost attentiveness. It’s a key driver of sales for any shop during the summer months, however, a simple offering comprising of just beers, wines, spirits and ciders is unlikely to suffice for today’s health-conscious and adventurous consumers. Founded in 2013, the Kold Group could be the answer to retailers’ prayers.

The independent British drinks company produces and markets exciting, premium alcoholic drinks under two brands: KÖLD Cocktails and Kalosa Natural Spritz. The former was created to help cocktail lovers enjoy the perfect serve at home in the form of award-winning frozen cocktails created using traditional recipes, premium spirits and the finest natural ingredients, all contained in a convenient and stylish pouch.

“We thought wouldn’t it be great if you could easily enjoy cocktails at home that tasted just as good as the ones you’re served in a top bar,” explains Nick Sotiropoulos, founder of Kold Group. “So we set about creating KÖLD – effortless, bar-quality cocktails that you simply freeze and serve! We drew inspiration for the design, packaging and brand name from one of our favourite places in the world: Scandinavia! Their effortlessly cool style was the perfect inspiration for the brand and for our award winning packaging design. After two very long years of sourcing ingredients, developing recipes and finalising packaging, we finally launched the brand.”

A true pioneer of the ready-to-serve market, the KÖLD Cocktails range comes in four flavours: Cosmopolitan; Mojito; an awardwinning Lychee Martini and an Elderflower Martini. The diverse array of varieties all incorporate the best quality, all-natural ingredients and follow classic recipes for ironclad authenticity. To make the cocktails, KÖLD uses the highest quality spirits, from barrel-aged rum from the Caribbean to triple-distilled vodka. “Our aim was to create a range of cocktails that were both convenient yet excellent quality,” says Nick. “It wasn’t easy!”

Evidently, it was worth it. The Lychee Martini has won a Great Taste Award for two years in a row. “It is fairly rare for a ready-to-serve cocktail to win such accolades, and it just goes to show the quality of our products,” he says. “We believe we won the awards due to the authenticity of our cocktails – at 8% ABV, each cocktail is the equivalent to a double measure, so it’s similar to what you’d expect to be served in a good bar, but in a convenient, ready-to-serve format.”

Sophisticated sipping
After the unequivocal success of introducing KÖLD Cocktails to the market, the company set about releasing another innovative range, Kalosa Natural Spritz. Specially crafted for the modern drinker looking for an exciting and all-natural alternative to the norm, the range is made by mixing premium pure-distilled spirits with the finest ingredients. Flavours include Pink Grapefruit with Crisp Cranberries & Vodka and Elderflower with Crisp Apples, a Dash of Lemon & Gin. All consumers need to do is pour them over ice, garnish with a slice of lemon or grapefruit and serve. At only 99 calories per bottle, and containing a fraction of the sugar found in many alcoholic drinks, they’re perfectly positioned to appeal to the health-conscious crowd.

“We were inspired to create Kalosa Spritz because people are now demanding healthier and lighter alcoholic drinks,” says Tori Carlaw, marketing director at Kold Group. “Consumers are becoming far more aware of what they’re putting into their bodies, and this includes not only food, but what they’re drinking, too. With so few healthier options in the alcoholic drinks category, we set about creating a light and refreshing alcoholic drink that not only tastes great, but ticks the lower calorie, lower sugar, all natural and lower alcohol boxes at the same time.”

The spirits used to create the drinks were carefully selected, with the team pinpointing premium varieties that customers are currently coveting. “Using gin was an obvious choice given the incredible rise in popularity of artisan gins over the last few years,” she says. “The elderflower gives it a slight sweetness, which is balanced by the zesty lemon. Pink grapefruit has become really popular recently, and it not only looks fantastic but tastes very refreshing – it really complements the vodka. The result is a drink which has tasting notes not too dissimilar to that of a classic G&T, but less bitter.”

The demand for premium, healthier drinks is steadily growing, with one in four people deciding on what they drink due to its calorie content, according to Mintel. “At first it was just about eating a bit healthier, but now it is starting to be about drinking healthier, too,” says Tori. “Consumers want to enjoy lower calorie and lower sugar alcoholic drinks, but still drink something more exciting than simply a gin and slimline tonic.” That’s where Kalosa Spirtz comes in, believes Tori. “You can see times are changing with the release of nonalcoholic spirits and lower ABV beers – there is a real demand for lighter alcoholic drinks, and it will only increase in the coming years.”

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