Page 12 - Chase Case Study Final

Rising Demand

A single bottle of Chase Vodka – made from up to 150 potatoes – sells
for £32 a bottle, more than triple the price of its lower-cost competition. It

is made entirely from potatoes grown on the Chase family farm in
Herefordshire and Chase is currently the only UK distillery to make
spirits from home grown ingredients.

But since winning the award, demand has soared and Chase has had to

increase production substantially.

The effect of the publicity surrounding the award has been dramatic.
Online sales of the vodka are typically about 100 bottles a week (more
are sold through retailers). However, when the BBC covered the story,

Chase Distillery received 1,000 online orders in just one day.

"The award has really helped to build up the brand's profile, which is
vital,” says Chase. “You can have the best product in the world, but it
won't sell if the brand isn't strong."

Chase excels at giving his brands a strong identity and using his own

personality to sell to retailers. “When I started the crisp company, I didn't
spend any money on advertising," he says. "Instead it was just me and
what I knew was a great product visiting hundreds of little independent

stores. So essentially I was the brand, and I was friendly and
enthusiastic. Branding is everything. A brand is like a baby that grows
up, it develops a personality.”

Now he’s taking that enthusiastic approach and spreading the word

about Chase Vodka. “It’s a very different world,” he said. “I thought
people would be interested in the provenance and the fact that we grow
the potatoes and make the vodka here on the farm but what has really

captured people’s interest is the Englishness in a market dominated by
Russian and Polish vodka.”