As some of you know, I am in to starting up and running businesses.
I have basically done very little in the way of work for the last three years but I have done a great deal of research on economics and businesses.

I am totally bored now and really need to do something challenging and my Italian cousin in Dublin at the moment is also looking for something to do.

I have decided to concider looking at a project to start a distillary producing our own spirits.
We are looking at either producing in Switzerland (Ticino) or UK (London).

I understand that some members on this forum work for Nestles and other food companies and believe that someone even runs a Micro Brewery and there are a lot of people that just have an incredible amount of knowledge on the whole.

So lets start with your opinions on opening a distillary and marketing flavoured drinks in Europe......Fire away.

Alcohol production is really not difficult, marketing/selling the product may prove to be far more challenging

maybe you can read up on red bull and how they became a success. when you do, could you please let me know how they cracked the distribution challenges? thanks.

Fully agree Red Bull total success story, but he did say "distillery" in his original post and alcohol production is far simpler than manufacturing Coca Cola for instance.

Mind you he did say he wanted something challenging....

Off the top of my head....

I would look at creating a vodka or tequila (/analogue) that can be finished for a cost price of £2 or so per litre. You would have to be based outside of Switzerland/Europe of course. You could then market this to clubs and bars around the world. They shouldn't be too brand loyal for their happy hour shots and cocktails. Look to base your Vodka factory in Russia, a couple of minutes away from the Chinese border so you can employ only Chinese workers, yet still say it's Russian Vodka.

Once you've got production going, employ 3 sales people to take samples around the world. £2 per litre cost should arrive at the destination, customs cleared for around £4, marked up to say £6.50, severely undercutting Smirnoff. If it has tight branding and looks the part, you should be able to get supply contracts pretty easily.

If I had time this is something I'd like to sink my teeth into. Anyway, back to the Great British Bake Off on the telly...

we got a microbrewery in my bar. I have a guy who does it. can produce up to 3000L a day (3 kinds of beer 1000 each) but like said before, getting people to drink it is other stuff. Thats basically where I come in and in the last week it has been a succes but will need much much much more time

If it was that easy, well wouldn't everyone be doing it?

1) You need a licence to distill - and they don't hand them out like confetti. Perhaps moving to Romania or the Ukraine will make this easier
2) In the UK , you have to pay duty ... and have a bonded warehouse, and the customs involved. And more that likely, the local gangsters. And you employees ....
3) What is your USP. Why is anyone going to buy it? Probably because you market it. How much do you guess that Diageo and Red Bull spend on advertising and promotions?
4) Where is it going to be positioned in the market - who are you targeting , what are the competition?
5) How are you going to get bars to stock a niche product. What will be your terms? And what distribution channel?

TBH - I wouldn't bother. For every Red Bull and Snapple there are a 100 failed products

lol what a ridiculous post.

I live in Absinthe country - big business.

Economisto is in fact quite realistic - regulations here for alcohol production are incredibly difficult - even if you can get the marketing right. Good luck and tell us how you get on.

I have a friend who has been looking into producing a spirit for quite a while and has a whole bunch of really good ideas for flavour, etc. and an excellent, extensive and very well respected background in cocktails where a huge market for "boutique" spirits exists.

Let me know if you are interested in being put in contact with him.

I believe that the boutique spirit market, you can name your price if your product is good and can hold it's own.

Best of luck with the whole thing and please let me know when the first batch is ready for tasting!

I am actually quite happy that so many people have the attitude that you do because it means that there is a good chance that are determined succeed and have less competition.
Something else I learnt in business was the more complicated it was to set up (especially government legislation) the less likely someone would bother to copy the idea.
I used to import Kitchen and Bathroom taps from Italy in the 80's and in those days the import paperwork was complicated (I couldn't afford an agent) which meant very few people embarked on it. Now any twot can import from Europe and the most continents quite easily.

The idea of a distillery came about from my cousin having a friend in Italy who started a distillery making different flavoured aperitifs and bottling them. They have over 30 different flavours. They started it illegally and then there was such a demand that they had to go legal.
My cousin will be going to Italy to suss it out and see the viability and capital outlay (we don't believe that much).

It is not about the money so much, it is about achieving something and generally when you succeed the money follows anyway.

Economisto; I see your points but I think there is too much Vodka on the market and Russia is corrupt. Perhaps the Balkans would be the place to manufacture if as you say Western Europe would be a problem.
We will first look at London as a market first for aperitifs.
It makes more sense to me than all these Micro Breweries. Less physical stock; higher value; less distribution costs etc etc.
I will keep you posted but have spent a total of 5 hours on this so far only.
40 - 80 hours of personal research normally gives me an indication of the viability.

With the revival (so to speak) and desire for real products and quality I'm sure there would be a great market but Switzerland because of it's distribution system (mostly based around a handful of store chains) makes it a tougher market to crack nationwide.

Look into the places that convey the spirit of the product you want to sell and see about distribution partnerships etc.

The market for booze is there but you have to play it right. The bars/clubs operating hand in hand with big brands makes it difficult.

You need to specify what you would like to distill and specify what market you're going for.

Zürich has a few breweries in the city which are sold in local bars. These things haven't happened overnight.

Distribution/retail blablyblah blah blah

Reading posts made so far; I think you misunderstand the scale I am looking at.
My initial expectations are much lower than people on this forum think is necessary for such a business.
Firstly I was doing it to get my cousin started in his own business and he earns Euros 400 net a week plus tips working in a bar in Dublin.
I was thinking of a capital and initial set up costs of £100,000; (CHF160,000) which to the majority of you on here is bugger all and a total joke; however to me is all my life savings and I have no pensions (just some equity in property). I have no intention of working unpaid for banks anymore so no intentions of borrowing from them as in the past. I could get Euros 1 milion from a relative with a telephone call but have not and intend never to owe favours to family. I have always succeeded and failed myself.

My initial idea was to manufacture and import some aperitifs and then try selling them to upmarket cities; London being the first City.

Two purposes:
1) Pleasure for me of the technical side of building the equipment and starting a new enterprise.
2) To get my cousin started in his own business. He currently earns Euros 400 net a week plus tips working in a bar/restaurant in central Dublin (which actually is a lot more than me at the moment basically doing nothing except economic/financial research of the markets for my own interest).

If it went well, then I would guess the route would be to sell the equipment and flavours, expertise to other people wanting to set up in their cities (I suppose a kind of Franchise).

There are plenty of red bull case studies on line if anyone wants to read up about it...

I'm surprised that CCA (Coca cola) hasn't bought them (red bull) out by now...

Good on you for your determination....

I think that the main issue that you will have is creating brand awareness. Either you manufacture generic mixer alcohol (which I think you don't want to as you want to sell flavoured products) or you want to sell in upmarket clubs. If its the latter, you need people to order by name or the bars will never stock it or sell it....

So if I were you, I'd take a breath on the "where to manufacture it" question and think about the gap in the market you want to fill. For me, it sounds like you are trying to hit the Absolut place in the market, and that will be a tough battle to win. So, go into the kind of bars you want to target, talk to the bar staff, see what people are buying and what the staff think are the gaps......then figure out a way to hit it.

Hopefully you'll find such a gap, make a success of it and the alco-big boys will try to buy your business in 5 years time!

They neither want to nor need to sell, thats why....

(CCA isn't Coke by the way, they are a regional bottler......)

Red Bull is just a well marketed product. Good for them!

Red Bull is basically from what I can see liquid Pro-Plus
http://www.proplus.co.uk/ i.e. Concentrated Caffiene in liquid form and sugar for a pick-up.
I used to take high dosages of Pro-Plus when I was studying and later when I used to drive my lorry to Northern Italy and back in three days from the UK.

Pro-Plus and Champagne can give you quite an effect.

Its a dangerous trap to say that.....it usually implies that the product is nothing special and its all about cute advertising.

Without this turning into a cliched "HTC is better than Apple which is just "well marketed"" debate....I'd suggest that no product can succeed by ONLY being well marketed ie Red Bull was the first "shot" energy drink, first Ipod was beautifully designed, McDonalds, Starbucks and Coke are consistent, cheap(ish) and very widely available. I don't think any brand or business can survive only on marketing

Isn't that what most brands are; Nike etc?

If you look at Nike; they actually spend more money on advertising and marketing than on manufacturing the product.

Back to the Distillery.
Anyone know about the legislation and "Bonded Warehousing" (don't like the looks of that).