Bacardi invites people ‘Back to the Bar’ for post-lockdown drinks
In its latest show of support for the on-trade, family-owned spirits company, Bacardi is bringing more than 10,000 people ‘Back to the Bar’ this summer. While respecting local government health and safety guidelines, 2,500 Bacardi employees will each invite three friends or family members to enjoy a cocktail at reopened bars across the UK and Europe.
Part of its #RaiseYourSpirits initiative to help the bar industry through the coronavirus crisis, the UK Bacardi team and their loved-ones will enjoy over 3,200 socially-distanced cocktails at bars in London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Leeds and Bristol, helping to drive footfall as the industry adapts to the new health and safety measures.
Vladimir Kazimirov, managing director for Bacardi, UK & Ireland, commented: “The Chancellor’s ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ announcement… is certainly very welcome but applies to meals, and we want to make sure we’re supporting bars who rely on drinks sales as well. So as we begin to see bars across the UK reopen their doors, our ‘Back to the Bar’ initiative has never been more relevant – it will be a fantastic way for us to show our continued #RaiseYourSpirits support for our friends in the on-trade.”
Bacardi has also invested in supporting bars’ cocktails-to-go offering – worth a potential £72m in the UK in 2020, and an estimated £465m by 2024 – as the Covid pandemic and restrictions directly impact the way people plan to enjoy cocktails this summer.
Launched last week, the new Europe-wide ‘Bring the Bar Home’ online portal from Bacardi reportedly provides bar owners with a “one-stop-shop” for everything they need to build their home delivery or take-away business – from social media marketing, recipes and packaging, to free software and templates for designing and printing cocktail labels.
Steve Young, On-Trade director UK, Bacardi added: “With capacities significantly reduced as a result of Covid restrictions, cocktails-to-go are a perfect way for bars to continue getting their fantastic drinks into the hands of their locals. ‘Bring the Bar Home’ will give owners everything they need to make the most of this new sales opportunity, and as part of our ongoing support, we’ll be providing hands-on support every step of the way to help them unlock its full potential.”
The ‘Bring the Bar Home’ portal follows a first-to-market launch from Bacardi UK in April, which saw the sprits company partner with Deliveroo to create its first-ever virtual bar to help bartenders generate income while their doors were closed. Over two months a range of 40 bars and bartenders were brought on board – from Mr Foggs, Artesian, Grind and Sexy Fish in London, to Science and Industry, Cultureplex and Cottonopolis in Manchester.
Young continued: “We worked with each on their speciality cocktails, resulting in an impressive menu of cocktails including the Bombay Sapphire Lychee Martini from Filthy 13, and the Bacadi ‘Mr Rumtastic’ from Callooh Callay. It was really exciting new territory for us and a real win-win – not just for the bars involved, but also for locals who were able to enjoy a bar-quality cocktail at home, at the same time as supporting their favourite bars.”
Matt Dakers, London Cocktail Club, commented: “Working with Bacardi and Deliveroo was an amazing opportunity during lockdown when the trade was shut. Two huge companies doing amazing things in their field to support the industry. Bacardi helped us promote and design the cocktail – an incredible twisted Paloma with Patrón tequila – and now they are working with us to explore the cocktail at home experience.”
As the on-trade reopens in England, Bacardi is also providing bar owners with support, advice and resources to help them adapt to new ways of operating. As well as providing the technology for in-app ordering (via menus with QR codes) to reduce contact between bartenders and guests, the team is also supplying 150 Bacardi ‘Party in a box’ activation kits, complete with hand sanitiser (produced at the Bombay Sapphire distillery in Hampshire, UK), Bacardi deck chairs, drum box chairs and coconut cups to help outlets transform their outdoor spaces.
