Launch marks start of historic firm’s return
REBIRTHED Scottish soft drink company Bon Accord has released a tonic water which it says has been tailor made for the trade.
Developed in conjunction with on-trade outlets including SLTN Award-winning gin bar 56 North in Edinburgh, the 200ml packaged tonic launched this week with an initial run equivalent to 30,000 G&Ts.
Director Karen Knowles, great granddaughter of the firm’s founder, brought the company back to life with business partner Nathan Burrough in 2016. Bon Accord was first founded in 1909 but ceased manufacturing soft drinks in 2000.
Since its rebirth, Bon Accord has been working with a range of on-trade distributors including Vino in Edinburgh, Huffmans in Dundee and Hot Sauce in Glasgow and has plans to launch a ginger beer in March.
Director Nathan Burrough said he reckons the smaller bottle format is the “way forward” for the business.
“The gin market is booming in Scotland and working in collaboration with some of Scotland’s top gin bars, we are now ready to release our new tonic water,” said Burrough.
“We have listened to industry leaders and reformatted our tonic water to suit the on-trade market. It was important for us to work closely with those who have real insight into the industry.
“It made perfect business sense for us to create a smaller size bottle for a single serve gin and tonic. As a Scottish business, we are eager to support Scottish gin distillers with a tonic water that showcases the amazing Scottish gins on the market.”
James Sutherland, owner of 56 North, said the venue has been working with Bon Accord “to support the evolution of their tonic water”.
“The new 200ml format is ideal for on-trade and customers are familiar with this size of tonic water when they order a gin and tonic,” he said.
“As a growing soft drink business in Scotland, it is great to see a new tonic water on the market which has been developed specifically to accompany Scottish gins.”
