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PITÚ – A successful brand from Brazil

Brazil’s second largest sugarcane spirits brand is also the best-selling export brand. In Germany, PITÚ is the best-known brand in its class and is most commonly used as a spirit to make PITÚrinha, the premium Caipirinha with PITÚ. PITÚ has been imported directly from Brazil since as long ago as 1972, and is bottled in Germany. The brand owner for all European countries is the Anton Riemerschmid, Weinbrennerei & Likörfabrik GmbH & Co. KG company, which has been 100% owned by the Underberg Group since September 1996.

The Brazilian company Engarrafamento PITÚ Ltda. was founded in 1938 by two traditional families from the north-east of Brazil – Cândido Carneiro and Ferrer de Morais. The distillery is located in Vitória de Santo Antão in the federal state of Pernambuco. The company is now in its fourth and fifth generation of managers. The search for a trademark quickly led to the name ‘PITÚ’, the colloquial name for the freshwater crayfish, Macrobrachium carcinus, which can be found in a river close to the distillery.

At the World Spirits Award, PITÚ was awarded gold as usual.

Gin of Hearts: Social project as a homage to Ghana

The former German national football team player Gerald Asamoah launched a gin project in autumn 2021 along with Michaela Habbel and his friends Timo Marner and Jens Conrad. The name Gin FOURTEEN is a reference to Gerald’s jersey number 14, which has a great significance for him. Due to his professional career, especially at FC Schalke and as a football manager, Gerald Asamoah feels a close bond with the Ruhr region. He wasn’t actually a gin drinker, but he came into contact with the subject through a thank-you project for donations to his foundation for children with heart conditions. The foundations of Gin FOURTEEN were laid back then and positive feedback led to the idea of making it accessible to a wider public.

The production avoids artificial aromas and additives, using ingredients from responsible and sustainable cultivation. Mango and papaya are typical fruits for Gerald Asamoah’s home country of Ghana – the gin is a homage to his homeland and Africa. It is made at the Heinrich Habbel Distillery in the southern Ruhr region. Every bottle supports social projects, including the ‘my Boo Ghana School e.V.’, which enables children in the Ashanti region to attend school and was created by staff at my Boo GmbH, which along with the Yonso Project in Ghana makes bamboo bicycles in Ghana and Kiel.

Limomacher: Regionally produced – socially labelled

Limomacher is a young Bregenz enterprise, according to their own definition “excellent in graphics, design, customer service, lemonade production, social involvement and coffee drinking”. However, a look at the brief biographies of the four-person team reveals quite a bit about their wide-ranging qualifications. All lemonades are produced regionally in Vorarlberg according to their own recipes. Short pathways right up until labelling – also labels for private customers and companies on request – reinforce sustainability, along with filling exclusively in glass bottles. The labelling, as well as the whole warehousing, are handled by Lebenshilfe Vorarlberg, a support organisation for people with disabilities. This is an indication that social thinking has been of great importance from the beginning.

At the beginning of 2018, the ‘Franz von Durst’ brand started in Spar shops, followed by the start-up shelf at Metro. The company developed a gin along with a tonic water for this purpose, as the first manufacturer in retailing that offers both as a one-stop shop. The gin that is also regionally produced goes perfectly with the tonic water and its animating and aromatic concept offers an exceptionally fruity drinking experience. Aside from the juniper base, five further botanicals play a role: angelica root provides a slight tanginess and supports the homogenous taste; orange peel is characterised by a range of aromatic substances and a fine hint of citrus; liquorice provides a complex sweetness with a slightly earthy note; elderberry has an intensive and refreshing taste; and hops gives it a special something.

“We are delighted that the Vorarlberg locals have received our gin so well and that we can expand step by step also into other provinces,” say the two young entrepreneurs.

At the World Spirits Award, gold was achieved by Franz von Durst Gin, and silver by Franz von Durst Dry Gin Wild.