LONDON 1 December 2022 ecoSPIRITS has announced that it has partnered with Rémy Cointreau, one of the largest producers and distributors of spirits and liqueurs in the world, to jointly launch closed loop service in the United Kingdom in January 2023. The new collaboration will see two of Rémy Cointreau’s iconic brands – Cointreau liqueur and Mount Gay rum – made available in co-branded editions of ecoSPIRITS award-winning ecoTOTE™ and SmartPour™ hardware for on-trade venues in London and beyond. With this launch, Rémy Cointreau becomes the first global drinks company to partner with ecoSPIRITS in the United Kingdom and Cointreau becomes the first global liqueur brand to be available in a closed loop packaging format. For the launch, ecoSPIRITS and Rémy Cointreau have partnered with leading UK distributor, Speciality Drinks, which will be the exclusive distributor of Cointreau and Mount Gay’s Eclipse variant in ecoTOTE format for the initial phase of the pilot distribution period.
Cointreau is produced in France while the Mount Gay distillery is based in Barbados.
The Rémy Cointreau brands chosen to feature in the initial UK launch have global recognition and sit among the most high-profile spirits and liqueurs found in the UK’s on-trade scene. The producer’s eponymous Cointreau brand originated in Angers, France in 1849. The orange-flavoured liqueur is a cocktail pioneer at the heart of more than 600 cocktail recipes, including classics such as the original Margarita. The Barbados-born Mount Gay rum has a history dating back to 1703, making it the world’s oldest working rum distillery. It joined Rémy Cointreau’s stable of brands in 1989.
Cointreau is a versatile liqueur and a key ingredient in several cocktails.
As the first global customer to launch with ecoSPIRITS in the UK, Rémy Cointreau will see its two iconic brands deployed in co-branded hardware to venues across the on-trade, including bars, restaurants, and hotels. The brands will travel to outlets in ecoTOTE format where they can be dispensed into branded bottles or served directly into glass or cocktail shaker via ecoSPIRITS’ SmartPour technology. The venues involved in the program will be revealed when the partnership officially commences in early 2023.
Co-branded innovation: the ecoTOTE 2.0S Cointreau Edition and the SmartPour 2.0S Mount Gay Edition.
The UK launch with Rémy Cointreau is also significant for ecoSPIRITS because it marks another milestone in its journey to develop industry-leading circular technology. The co-branded SmartPour 2.0S Cointreau Edition has been adapted specifically for Cointreau to accommodate the higher levels of viscosity and sugar that are the hallmarks of the liqueur category. These adaptations included an upgraded dispense nozzle, enhanced calibration, and an upgraded cleaning process. The Cointreau Edition is the first SmartPour to be specifically tailored for liqueurs and will help accelerate ecoSPIRITS’ innovation in this important category.
The co-branded SmartPour Cointreau Edition has been adapted specifically for liqueurs.
The partnership with ecoSPIRITS forms part of Rémy Cointreau’s overall commitment to sustainable practices, whereby the company has set itself the goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% per bottle by 2030 and moving towards Net Zero by 2050. The program forms part of the company’s “Sustainable Exception” roadmap built around Terroir, People & Time, where soil regeneration, sustainable production (products and transport), increased bottle circularity and responsible consumption, are all key elements. The collaboration with ecoSPIRITS will result in a 95% reduction in single use packaging waste for Cointreau and Mount Gay distributed in ecoTOTE format. The system will also help UK on-trade partners reduce their own operations waste streams and reduce back-of-house storage by 30 to 50%.
Mount Gay’s Eclipse is produced under the watchful eye of its Master Blender Trudiann Branker.
To support the new collaboration, existing ecoSPIRITS Climate Partner and leading UK distributor, Speciality Drinks, will be the exclusive distributor of Mount Gay Eclipse rum and Cointreau liqueur during a pilot period. Speciality Drinks was founded in 1999 by Sukhinder and Rajbar Singh, who also founded the leading spirits retailer, The Whisky Exchange. The family-owned business works with more than 1,000 of the best bars, restaurants, and hotels across the UK and overseas, from the smallest pop-up bars to large international groups. As a member of the ecoSPIRITS Climate Partner Program, Speciality Drinks is part of growing global coalition of importers, distributors, and wholesalers who are licensed for closed loop distribution using ecoSPIRITS’ technology.
The team at Speciality Drinks works with venues across the UK.
Paul Gabie, CEO of ecoSPIRITS
“Rémy Cointreau is an industry-leading drinks company and a producer of renowned quality and heritage. We are delighted to welcome them as our first global brand partner in the United Kingdom. It is no small milestone when Cointreau and Mount Gay, each an iconic brand in its own right, join the circular economy. The transition to circular is gathering momentum in the spirits industry. We applaud the entire Rémy Cointreau team for their commitment to building a sustainable future together.”
Augustin Depardon, Managing Director of Rémy Cointreau UK
“I’m thrilled that Rémy Cointreau can pilot the ecoSPIRITS programme in the UK, and to see Cointreau as the first global liqueur to join the ecoSPIRITS system. Mount Gay Eclipse and Cointreau are incredibly important brands for our on-trade partners in the UK, and this is a significant step in helping them reduce their overall waste. Equally, it’s vital for us at Rémy Cointreau to look at every pillar of our sustainability practices to see where we can do better, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Jen Baernreuther, Commercial Director of Speciality Drinks
“Speciality Drinks is genuinely proud to be a part of such an important movement in the effort to make our hospitality industry more eco-conscious. More and more of our customers are looking for advice on how to make changes, big or small, to their offering, reducing their impact on the planet and in turn their own customer’s impact. This is a huge move forward in the way we supply product and has such great potential to bring positive change.”
Bars, restaurants, and hotels in the UK interested in participating in the collaboration between Rémy Cointreau and ecoSPIRITS can get in touch by contacting ecoSPIRITS’ Sales Director for Europe [email protected]. For media inquiries or general information on ecoSPIRITS, please contact Sonya Hook, Senior PR Manager at Sonya.H[email protected] and for Cointreau and Mount Gay in the UK, please contact [email protected].
About Rémy Cointreau
All around the world, there are clients seeking exceptional experiences; clients for whom a wide range of terroirs means a variety of flavors. Their exacting standards are proportional to our expertise – the finely-honed skills that we pass down from generation to generation. The time these clients devote to drinking our products is a tribute to all those who have worked to develop them. It is for these men and women that Rémy Cointreau, a family-owned French group, protects its terroirs, cultivates exceptional multi-centenary spirits and undertakes to preserve their eternal modernity. The Group’s portfolio includes 14 singular brands, such as the Rémy Martin and Louis XIII cognacs, and Cointreau liqueur. Rémy Cointreau has a single ambition: becoming the world leader in exceptional spirits. To this end, it relies on the commitment and creativity of its 1,924 employees and on its distribution subsidiaries established in the Group’s strategic markets. Rémy Cointreau is listed on Euronet Paris.
For more information, visit www.remy-cointreau.com.
About Cointreau
Iconic orange liqueur creator and cocktail pioneer, Maison Cointreau was founded in 1849 in Angers, France, when the terroir and several generations of entrepreneurs came together. The excellence of its products would not be possible without concrete action in the field of corporate and environmental responsibility, from the orange groves through to the tasting glass. With the 2025 Sustainable Exception plan, environmental challenges now form the heart of the House of Cointreau’s strategy. This plan is based on three cornerstones: preserving our terroirs and biodiversity for future generations, committing to people by encouraging them to consume our products responsibly and respecting the value of time by combatting climate change. The brand’s heritage as a liquorist-distiller lives on today at the heart of more than 500 cocktails, including the original Margarita and Cosmopolitan. Cointreau liqueur’s distinctive character is the result of the meticulous selection, harmony, and distillation of sweet and bitter orange peel essences, a task entrusted to Maison Cointreau’s Master Distiller. Unique and boasting exceptional organoleptic qualities, it’s a staple for bartenders and at-home cocktail enthusiasts around the world.
For more information, visit www.cointreau.com.
About Mount Gay
Mount Gay is the world’s oldest running rum distillery established in 1703. Founded and still located in the Parish of St Lucy, at the northernmost tip of Barbados, Mount Gay is crafted using pure, coral-filtered water and the finest Barbadian and Caribbean molasses. Distilled in traditional double copper pot and copper column stills, Mount Gay rums are aged in a diverse selection of casks including American whiskey, Bourbon and Cognac. Harnessing over 300 years of heritage and expertise, Mount Gay rums are a fine balance between science, art and innovation. Blended by Master Blender Trudiann Branker and aged under the influence of Barbados’ tropical climate, our rums highlight a unique, rich and flavourful character. Mount Gay’s core range includes Mount Gay Silver, Mount Gay Eclipse, Mount Gay Black Barrel and Mount Gay XO alongside the annual limited editions 1703 Master Select and the Master Blender Collection. In addition to crafting the world’s oldest rum, Mount Gay is committed at all times to the use of sustainable and transparent practices in order to realise our vision of environmental stewardship and carbon neutrality.
For more information on our rum and to explore more about what we do for our community and the planet, visit www.mountgayrum.com.
About Speciality Drinks
Speciality Drinks is a family-owned business, working with more than 1,000 of the best bars, restaurants and hotels across the UK and overseas from the smallest pop-up bars to large international groups. A premier supplier of whiskies, spirits and champagnes to the on-trade focused on exceptional service, sharing our passion for great drinks and introducing new producers and categories to the on trade. The company was founded in 1999 by Sukhinder and Rajbar Singh, founders of the world’s leading whisky and spirits retailer, The Whisky Exchange.
For more information, visit https://specialitydrinks.com.
About ecoSPIRITS
ecoSPIRITS is a circular economy technology company that has developed the world’s first low carbon, low waste distribution technology for premium spirits and wine. Our patent-pending closed loop system nearly eliminates all packaging waste in the supply chain. By dramatically reducing packaging and transport, ecoSPIRITS provides both a powerful cost advantage and a transformative carbon footprint reduction. Founded in Singapore in 2018, the ecoSPIRITS technology is now available in more than 14 countries and 30 cities across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. More than 1,000 leading bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers have adopted the technology, including Michelin-starred restaurants, World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best bars and iconic hotels. ecoSPIRITS is now rapidly building a global network of closed loop service, with coverage to grow to 25 countries worldwide by early 2023. Together with our brand partners, importers, distributors, wholesalers, venues, and retailers, we are already making a difference. Each year, ecoSPIRITS and our partners are eliminating hundreds of tons of single use glass waste, planting tens of thousands of trees, and inspiring others to change.
For more information, visit www.ecospirits.global.