114 | Tees Business
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU
A
Gin lovers ’ members ’ club leads to exciting new products for Steel River Drinks
n innovative gin club set up as a reaction to Covid-19 by Steel River Drinks has led directly to the creation of two new product launches that are expected to be a big hit with the public .
“ The 265 Club ” was created at the start of the pandemic as a way of being able to interact with lovers of the company ’ s Teesside-produced drinks who were no longer able to enjoy them in the bars and clubs .
And not only has the club idea been a runaway success , but it has also inspired the company ’ s latest products – gin and lemonade in cans and a new range of mixers called Strive .
Company owner Jay Byers explained : “ When the lockdown came , many brewers and distillers faced a massive hit because they were so reliant on pubs and clubs for sales .
“ Steel River Drinks was fortunate because we ’ ve always sold strongly online .
“ We have really strong followings on Facebook and Instagram – and our online sales just increased .
“ But one idea we came up with to keep business going was the 265 Club , for 265 members , who would get a new , specially-made gin to enjoy every month . “ I don ’ t know any other distiller who would do something like this . It ’ s bonkers really because it ’ s not easy to come up with a new gin every month for just a
LEMONS ...
select few members – Gordon ’ s only made the one gin for about 300 years !
“ We wanted to get to 100 members initially , but we reached that within hours and in three days , we had 265 . We couldn ’ t believe it . We have members from all over the UK – even the Orkney Islands !”
The club has been expanded to 500 and could have gone higher , but the company wanted to retain that “ select group ” feel .
Jay said : “ It ’ s been a lot of fun and members get a lot out of it , but it also enables us to let people know what we ’ re doing and how our products are progressing .
“ Members love all the extras that go with their exclusive gin box , like glassware , Strive mixers , coasters , straws , snacks and sweets .
“ It ’ s also been great for our market research . We learned that 180 of our members enjoyed gin and lemonade , rather than gin and tonic .
“ Digging deeper , we found that when people say they don ’ t like gin , it ’ s actually the tonic in a G & T they don ’ t like .
“ That information has led us to creating a new gin and lemonade product we think there could be a massive market for .
“ Another valuable piece of feedback was that our members would love to see a Teesside tonic , so we made just that and are launching Strive mixers this
WORDS : GRAEME ANDERSON
month . Tonics , lemonade and even CBD drinks are coming !”
The company was purposely named Steel River Drinks ( plural ) because the intention was always to make more than just one offering .
It now has eight different versions of its popular gin on sale in a variety of forms and business is booming , boosted by an enormous social media following – 25,000 on Facebook , 13,000 on Instagram .
Not that Steel River Drinks is resting on its laurels .
As you ’ d expect from a company that has a product called Strive , it ’ s already looking at its next opportunity .
“ We have acquired another unit for our brewing operation , with our first beers due out this autumn . And this brewing equipment has been used already to produce our first rums , due out later this year too .
“ We aim to make sure that when our salespeople go into pubs and clubs , we ’ ll be guaranteed to have at least one product they ’ ll want to stock .”
It looks like that Steel River will flow a lot further in the months and years to come .
Steelriverdrinks . com Facebook : @ steelriverdrinks Instagram : @ steelriver _ jay Twitter : @ jay _ steelriver LinkedIn : @ JayByers