Angostura to the world

Already operating in over 170 markets worldwide, Angostura continues to expand its global reach, introducing its range of alcohols and bitters to new markets while adopting sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

In his chairman's message in the limited summary consolidated financial statement for the year ending September 2024, Terrence Bharath said Angostura could report increases in its international and regional markets with branded revenue growing by $7.4 million, or three per cent compared to the same period in 2023.

Bharath said growth was driven by increased sales in bitters of 28 per cent in Australia, 18 per cent in Latin America and one per cent in North America.

Angostura's website added, "Over the past year, we have expanded our reach into untapped territories, introducing our world-renowned rums and bitters to consumers in Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and El Salvador.

"This recognition cements our position as a true global ambassador of TT’s spirit with a strong global presence across 170 markets worldwide."

On December 9, during Angostura's Earning Call meeting at the House of Angostura, Laventille, Bharath said he was unsure whether any other local or regional business was as global as Angostura.

Angostura’s business efficiency and shared services executive manager Rahim Mohammed said the international business continues to grow.

He said Angostura soft-launched its line of premium rums in Athens and participated in the Athens Bar Show earlier this year and it "stole the show."

"We went back into China this year (as well), and that has been going excellently. Within a month, we had a re-order twice the size of the first order.

"And we're also making a breakthrough in some of the African markets."

Mohammed said before year-end Angostura will have a presence in Mozambique – which has a population of over 34 million people – by introducing its bitters.

Angostura also has a presence in Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Zanzibar.

The company also won the TTMA's Innovator of the Year award for 2023.

Bharath, pointing at a barrel which displayed bottles of the company's new products, said, "When you look at something like this you think... ughhhh, a rum-shaped bottle.

"This took four years to design. Meticulously, every bottle was looked at. Hours and hours of work of our committee, of management, of foreign entities, of the people responsible for design, colours, the labels."

Bharath said the new bottles are designed with corks and a new weight, which allows it to go into many European countries, the US and many of the larger global markets.

"They require you to have a different composition of makeup of the bottle, biodegradability and the cork has to be of a certain standing. It's a work of art."

Saving the environment

Angostura is also working to become more environmentally friendly, and chief operating officer Ian Forbes said the company was extremely pleased with receiving the TT Chamber Green Agenda award.

"While we got the award for 2023, it was based on a body of work that started over ten years ago."

He said he was happy that the board of directors saw the need to do environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicatives.

"Two years ago, possibly more, we started focusing on our ESG impact. While we know the companies that you deal with measure their success in terms of financial performance, in the world of tomorrow, based on climate action, success will be measured not only on financial performance but on the social impact that you leave, the environmental impact and governmental structures. Angostura is a company that embraces this."

In a release on November 11, Angostura said the company embeds sustainability into everything from its distilling process to packaging, striving to reduce its environmental effect.

Angostura has been leading in sustainable innovations through environmental initiatives such as eco-friendly packaging, renewable energy integration, ISO 14001:2015 certification and a water-resource recovery and anaerobic digester facility.

The company has programmes to recycle glass, plastic and cardboard, eliminating the use of plastic bags at its Solera retail outlets by integrating reusable bags.

Additionally, the company is also phasing out diesel-powered forklifts, moving towards electric and CNG-powered ones to reduce emissions, the release said.