Clarendon portfolio company, The Boatyard Distillery, received approval from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) last Friday to launch their Boatyard Double Gin in Ontario, Canada this Autumn.
The Fermanagh business will join three other Irish brands in being amongst the first ever Irish gins to enter the Canadian market in 2019 with a launch planned for Autumn time.
Only a handful of brands get past the long and rigorous selection process to enter the Ontario market which usually takes 12 months. Unique sized bottles, special French and English labels and intensive liquid testing are required prior to approval.
The LCBO is an Ontario Government enterprise and one of the world’s largest buyers and retailers of beverage alcohol.
The LCBO offers more than 26,000 products annually from more than 80 countries, to consumers and licensed establishments. It sells to over 660 retail stores, over 210 agency stores and as wholesaler to almost 250 Grocery stores, as well as on-trade licensed premises. Throughout the process, Boatyard were supported by InvestNI which accompanied them to Toronto in March of this year to pitch to the LCBO.
“This is a significant achievement for us as we expand into the North American market,” said Joe McGirr, CEO and Founder of The Boatyard Distillery. “It comes at a really exciting time as this year we have received our new custom built still which enables us to double production capacity and we reopen our newly refurbished visitor space for tours.”
