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  • 2 years ago
The Port of Spain branch of Angostura's retail outlet, Solera Wines and Spirits, has relocated to Albion Plaza at Victoria Avenue in Port of Spain.


At the opening ceremony, a few initiatives were revealed, as the company reflected on the recent fire at its compound which it calls a catastrophe that was averted.


Alicia Boucher has more in this report.
Transcript
00:00 The relocation of Solara Wines and Spirits from Grey Street on Tragrate Road to Albion
00:08 Plaza on Victoria Avenue comes as the former building is 100 years old and has become unfit
00:15 for purpose. Finance Minister Colman Byrd, who is the acting prime minister at this time,
00:20 says Angostura has been performing well, with growth being experienced annually.
00:26 "They gave me some numbers here, I'm not sure how true they are, but I'll relate them, that
00:33 North American and European markets grew by 34% in 2022, not sure if there's a decimal
00:40 point missing there, and Latin America led a $4 million revenue uptick."
00:49 The acting prime minister notes that Solara Wines and Spirits grew from a retail shop
00:54 at Angostura's compound. He says Solara has doubled its sales in one year and contributes
01:00 to 10% of Angostura's revenue.
01:03 "I'm told that Solara's sales are upwards of $100 million, believe it or not, that little
01:09 wine shop. So it just shows you, because they also sell rum, so it just shows you the power
01:14 of rum."
01:16 Chief Executive Officer of Angostura, Laurent Schoon, reveals that the company is looking
01:22 at expanding Solara across the country.
01:24 "So not just in Marabella or here, this new place, but also looking at some other places,
01:31 maybe in the south, centre, in the east, because we want to make Solara not only the best,
01:37 but the most available wine and liquor store on the island. Question, what will we do from
01:42 Grey Street? Yes, we might have to rebuild, and we're working on some concept. I'm not
01:48 able to disclose right now what will be the concept, but I can tell you this will be beautiful."
01:54 Angostura also has a new release, Symphony 2023, which is a special edition for this
02:00 year and is said to be a tribute to the master blender of Angostura. The company's chairman,
02:05 Terence Barrett, Senior Counsel, has also announced that from January 2024, Angostura
02:12 will have two of its products, an icon of the seas, the largest vessel belonging to
02:17 the cruise ship company, Royal Caribbean Group.
02:21 The success comes on the heels of a fire at Angostura on December 1st. Water couldn't
02:26 be used to get the blaze under control because of the amount of alcohol involved, and workers,
02:31 through quick thinking, began using foam.
02:34 "It could have been really, really catastrophic. And the fire happened in a place that we would
02:41 never have imagined it would have happened, in the botanical area which is used to make
02:46 Angostura bitters."
02:48 Barrett remains thankful to staff, some of them who risked their lives, fire officials
02:54 and other stakeholders like foam companies who all worked hard to ensure the survival
03:00 of Angostura.
03:01 "What I saw happened there where everybody came together. There was no class, there was
03:06 no creed, there was no religion, there was no rank on anybody. Everybody banded together
03:11 to save us."
03:12 Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
03:15 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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