The biggest winner in this year’s round of New Years tasting honors is VnC Cocktails Limited based on the results of several recent International competitions.

As New Zealand’s newest global brand, VnC has won Gold Medals and accolades in London, Chicago and Beijing for its pure, natural and innovative ready‐to‐pour cocktails. Three Gold Medals at the Drinks International category tasting in London were announced just prior to Christmas along with another three Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the influential Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) tasting held in Chicago. To complete the year’s achievements, VNC won the Best Bar Mix and Superior Service award from the China Hotel and Restaurant Owners group in Beijing, China. All these new awards follow on from the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) in the UK, where all the brands were awarded medals with the VnC Mai Tai winning “Best in Class.”
”This makes VnC the world’s most awarded ready‐to‐pour cocktail,” according to VnC General Manager Chris Fairbairn.

Going to market in a totally new liquor category is a big call for any major international brand, but for VnC it was seen as a good challenge for Kiwi ingenuity and marketing skill and the team knew that they were backed with a great tasting, 100% pure and natural based product.
According to Fairbairn, “entering this growth market early with a high‐quality product meant the other global brand players in the ready‐to‐pour category had to play catch up, and so far, based on these results, the pure and natural theme has helped to distinguish VnC as the World’s most awarded ready‐ to‐pour cocktails. While other liquor companies might produce the base spirit to make a cocktail, when it comes to the ready‐to‐pour category, they have not been able to approach the consistent quality that VnC’s fresh and natural ingredients plays in the preparation of a true bar‐quality cocktail.”

VnC launched its products into the international markets 18 months ago. Based on the company’s extraordinary success, VnC was ahead of the curve for the development of this new and growing drink category, and 100% natural ingredients was the starting point for this innovative, pure NZ company.

Today, the ready‐to‐pour cocktail market has grown to a point where, internationally, the category was ready for critical review and assessment. Drinks International is the world’s leading cocktail magazine,

BTI is America’s most respected testing Authority, and even in China, ready‐to‐pour cocktails have established themselves to the point where there is significant national interest.

“Winning awards across these prestigious categories in such diverse markets is a strong endorsement of our approach. When we started on the development of this brand the VNC strategy was very simple and typically Kiwi. We use the best natural ingredients and real fruit from around the world, use no artificial preservatives, additives or colors and make it as good as you would expect from a top quality bar. Now, with rapidly growing market penetration, it is great to see our approach has been endorsed by so many leading authorities in the market and that our products stand out over the competition,” Fairbairn said.

VnC has been working steadily to establish a global position for its products and now boasts markets in China, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, Canada, Monaco, Russia and Scandinavia, with the list grows almost daily. Marketing for the products draws on some iconic Kiwi elements and provides a quirky insight into the pure and natural environment that so many Kiwis enjoy and take for granted.

“Based on progress to date, VnC is confident that the world will be drinking our cocktails as their drink of natural choice well into the new decade,” according to a delighted Fairbairn.

VnC Internal Memorandum 2009 Awards