With a family history in the food and drink business dating back to the early 19th century, Brendan Colbert sees the move into mixer manufacturing as part of a natural progression. The Poachers Drinks founder had spent the early part of his career working in management consultancy with Deloitte before returning home from Australia in 2005 to join the family business.
“My mother had a really lovely pub, Boggans of Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford,” he recalls. “It dates back to 1812 and was in the family for 200 years. It was sold in 1998. My mother also developed a restaurant, Rafters. It was a really fabulous restaurant in a small rural village. We had a tillage farm as well and it is now part of the Poachers business. I came home to help with the farm and other interests. All that food culture was there. It was a bit of a mixed bag but the thread running through it was food and drink.”
Poachers evolved out of that. “We started in 2017 and our first product on the market was citrus tonic. We now have seven premium mixers and are exporting to six countries. We employ six people now. Poachers is a premium drinks company. We use a lot of Irish ingredients to make mixers for premium long drinks. That’s a fast-growing space in Ireland and worldwide.”
Changing market
The decision to move into the mixer market was market-led. He saw the dynamic changing over the past 20 years from a market where Guinness was very much the dominant drinks choice to one where customers are exploring other drinks.
“They are now looking for things like a negroni or an old-fashioned. The customer has changed. Irish consumers have become much more well travelled. They have wider tastes in food and are more willing to experiment with different taste profiles. Food culture has become established as well. We could see that change in the market over the past 20 years and established Poachers because of that. Poachers is the only Irish company to produce premium natural mixers for the long drinks market. We have a great distillery heritage in this country, particularly whiskey. But there was no Irish mixer to go with those brilliant Irish spirits. We decided to make a uniquely Irish solution.”
Ingredients count at the premium end of the market, he points out. “Our range is made with all-natural ingredients. A lot of standard mixers contain sodium benzoate preservative but ours is a completely natural product. We use Irish rosemary and thyme grown on our farm and our ginger ale is made with organic Irish apples. We always use the best Irish ingredients when we can. When we can’t find an Irish product we only use the best of the best from abroad.”
The Poachers range is also lower in sugar than standard equivalents. “You could have up to 14 grams of sugar in a standard mixer. You don’t want to mix a quality spirit with 14 grams of sugar. You need some sugar as a flavour enhancer but not that much.”
Growing demand
There is also growing demand for mixers generally. “It’s not just a gin and tonic any more. One of the nicest drinks I’ve tasted is sake and Poachers classic tonic. Irish consumers have become much more sophisticated, and they are exploring right across the range and combining mixers with drinks like vermouth and mezcal.”
Business is good despite the pandemic. “We had a tough 2020, the same as everybody in the industry. But we won a major award in London last month. Our Poachers wild tonic with Irish elderflower won the inaugural Tonic and Mixer Masters 2021 in the Spirits Business Global Masters Series. That was very, very exciting for us.
"As things reopen, we starting to see real interest in the range. We've just opened a great new market in Sweden and we're doing very well in the UK, where we have had great support from people like Richard Corrigan. The Bord Bia Origin Green scheme has been really important for our international sales. You will see us in a lot more retailers during the summer months. People can also go to poachersdrinks.com to shop online."
