GEORGE NEWS - The bottle design of a new liqueur under the brand of Van Loveren Family Vineyards / Nature's Own Beverages, the brainchild of George businessman Louis Lategan, scooped two gold awards at the South African Packaging Awards evening in Johannesburg last week.
Being in the shape of a rhino horn, the bottle - containing a cream liqueur - is elegant, unique and eye-catching. The bottle is produced by Consol Glass.
Lategan, formerly in the construction industry, shared his elation with the George Herald on Monday. "It was a roller coaster ride of seven years to get it developed, patented, the trademark and trade names registered, and find a company in the liquor industry willing to take it on and market it, but it was all worth the effort," he said.
The liqueur, called Royal Rhino Arabica Coffee Cream, has been on the market for a year and is already on shelves in America, Belgium, China, India, Botswana and Brazil. It won a double gold at the 2019 Michelangelo International Awards three weeks ago and silver at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in England earlier this year.
At the Packaging Awards, the design took the gold award in the category Best in Glass, and gold in the category Alcoholic Beverage Packaging.
Lategan's inspiration was the rhino and the need to raise funds and awareness of the war against rhino poaching. A percentage of sales goes towards the conservation of the rhino. Donations to the value of R150 000 have already been made to a number of game reserves as well as the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre, where 13 young rhinos that had been orphaned due to poaching, are kept.
Once Lategan had finalised the design, he went through a laborious process of having the patent registered and finding a trading partner that would run with the marketing. "Seven companies, four of which are big players in the industry, turned me down, but I finally landed with Nature's Own Beverages. A joint venture was formed and a contract signed."
He is also the brand ambassador for the product.
The development and production of the unique shape posed many challenges. It started with Lategan using automotive body filler to create the horn shape around an ordinary bottle to convey his idea to Consol. "The design was finalised only after what felt like endless meetings and trials," he says.
"Needless to say, the financial outlay was high before the final product was on the shelf. I am satisfied that I made the right decision not to do it all by myself, but rather go with Van Loveren / Nature's Own Beverages that is in the industry and has a marketing structure in place."
The first 100 000 bottles of the Royal Rhino liqueur have been manufactured and are selling well. Their target for next year is 300 000.
Lategan also initiated a Van Loveren wine range, The Rhino Run.
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