Page 41 - The Summit of the Americas 2021

INSIDER

Tito’s Handmade Vodka revs up giving back in times of need

Giving back has always been funda- Unit (ICU). “There were
mentally at the core of Tito’s Handmade The facility was prepared by the some bright spots
Vodka’s business, which was founded by Sandals Foundation as part of a wider CO- during the
Bert “Tito” Beveridge in 1997. VID-19 relief sponsorship by Tito’s. The pandemic.
This philosophy was never more vodka company’s philanthropic arm, Love, Most all of
evident than during the COVID-19 Tito’s, has donated a total of US $25,000 to our markets
pandemic, when the Austin, Texas-based support the island’s hospitality workers and pivoted to
vodka powerhouse revved up its support communities affected by the pandemic. e-commerce.
for nonprofit organizations and essential Also in the region, Tito’s and its Places like
workers, especially for people who work in distributor WEBB Banks helped support Guam, New
the hospitality and service industry. “Lend a Hand Bahamas,” and the “Sa- Zealand, the
“It was really good that we had a ber Beber COVID Relief Fund” in Peru, UK were
chance to give back during this time,” John among others. increases for
McDonnell, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Man- us. Australia
aging Director International, tells TMI. Business thrives on e-commerce and the UK
“Our team spent a lot of time doing While Tito’s travel retail business was we benefited
charity events for people in the hospital- impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, its because we
ity business, such as the Food for Friends business in the United States and domestic changed dis-
programs around the globe. We worked markets around the world continued to tributors and
with beverage catering to make pre-pack- grow. Tito’s Handmade Vodka overtook our distribu-
aged meals for people in the hospitality Smirnoff Vodka to become the top selling tors secured
industry.” spirit in the U.S. in 2019. us more
In the Caribbean, Tito’s charitable Tito’s was the number one liquor on off-premise
foundation worked with the Sandals alcohol e-commerce platform Drizly for the placement
Foundation to build a lounge for the first second year in a row in 2020. during COVID.
responders in a hospital in Jamaica so that “Brands that were prominent on So we performed very well in those
they could go in and have coffee and get e-commerce sites did well,” says McDon- markets,” he says.
something to eat, said McDonnell. nell. “There wasn’t a lot of experimenting “One of our distributors was making
St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, with different brands during the pandemic. packages for consumer takeaway and deliv-
which is the main COVID-19 treatment Everybody went to the consumer staples: ery, in Vietnam for example, pairing Tito’s
facility for persons in the parishes of St. Tito’s, Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam.” with different mixers. I think you are going
Ann, Portland and St. Mary in Jamaica, Tito’s international business was able to see that consumer behavior changed
was outfitted with a sterile and private area to thrive in markets that were able to pivot dramatically during COVID, focused more
to serve as a lounge for the doctors and to e-commerce or other creative selling on home delivery and assorted packages
nurses who are on call in the Intensive Care methods, McDonnell tells TMI. from retailers: one stop shopping.”

Looking ahead, Consuegra expects with our customer base throughout the amount of programs we were doing.”
this year to be better than 2020, but not as region whether it’s the Caribbean, Central The Tito’s Food for Friends program
good as 2019. America, or travel retail. And also the purchases take-out meals from restaurants
“We think we are in a better position relationships with our suppliers.” and makes the complimentary meals avail-
than we were going into the storm. We are able for both industry and non-industry
operating much more efficiently. We have Community involvement individuals in need.
a better team. The confidence you get from As part of its strong relationships and “Through Food for Friends we’ve
going into a storm and coming out stronger a corporate philosophy, WEBB Banks was been able to partner up with restaurants
is invaluable,” says Consuegra. involved with a number of charity initia- and hand out meals for hospitality workers.
Its success is all about what WEBB tives throughout the region. It has been very positive in ten markets
Banks calls ‘relationships times three:’ “We did a lot of charity work with throughout the Caribbean and Central
amongst themselves, amongst its custom- Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Treasury America. We are about to do another series
ers, and amongst its supplier partners. Wines,” notes Consuegra. “Probably the of them in the Bahamas called Hands for
“Relationships are at the core of what toughest conversation I had last year during Hunger. Tito’s is amazing. It is great to be
we do,” says Jarrell. “The relationships we the pandemic was with Tito’s when they able to associate with a company that phil-
were able to forge amongst our own team, thought we hadn’t run enough of the Food anthropic and that forward thinking. They
the relationships we were able to strengthen for Friends programs. So we tripled the do things the right way,” says Jarrell.

41 April 2021 The Virtual Summit of the Americas Issue