by Lee Ann Atwater FROM GRAINS TO GLASSES W hat started as an idea by co-founders, Dan Allen and Alex Rice back in 2014 while attending a meeting in Vancouver to start a business and move home to the East Coast, developed in a plan and eventually led to the opening of the Nova Scotia Spirit Co. in 2015. In the beginning, the process was simple, the Pictou County company was hand bottling small-batch Blue Lobster Vodka, Willing to Learn Gin, and Fisherman’s Helper White Rum spirits. Ironically, in the beginning the co-founders of the company wanted to open “a really small local spirits business.” Little did they know however, how quickly the popularity of the brand would grow, as the craft distillery industry has just started to take off in Nova Scotia and most other regions for that matter. It is impressive to see what this small local spirit business has accomplished in a short time. The company now employs 55 people and continues to grow both as an employer and its market share. Increase demand means increasing the product so the company moved from their hand bottled process to bring in a portable bottling line to fill bottles of rum, gin and vodka for its customers.
In 2018, Nova Scotia Spirit Co. got into the Ready to Drink Beverage sector launching their original canned Blue Lobster Lemon Lime Vodka Soda to much success. The popularity of their new carbon- ated alcoholic drink made by the Pictou County company found instant success which has led to the company adding additional Blue Lobster Vodka Soda flavors to their ready to drink lineup. The demand for the brands has seen the company expanding their distribution across Eastern Canada and Ontario, and the company selling more than 10 million cans of the Blue Lobster Brand in the last 12 months, so it looks like customers have made the brand part of their pandemic survival kits, who knew that self-isolating made you thirsty! All jokes aside, the demand for Blue Lobster has the Nova Scotia Spirit Company running three daily shifts of its canning line to keep up with demand and something tells us that with their newest Blue Lobster offering they might have to add another shift to that canning line.
NOVA SCOTIA SPIRIT COMPANY’S BLUE LOBSTER PINK LEMONADE
The Nova Scotia Spirit Company recently launched its new Blue Lobster Pink Lemonade which offers customers a fresh squeezed lemonade punch, with a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and tart flavours. Crafted with award winning Blue Lobster Vodka and juice from local fruit, this refreshing blend of strawberry, cranberry and lemonade will quench any thirst with only a fraction of sugar compared to similar coolers on the market. This, better for you, beverage, has a deep rose colour, and it’s great from the can or poured in a glass over ice when watching the hockey game. We can also see Blue Lobster Pink Lemonade filling many an ice bucket or being shared on the patio this summer by the pitcher with friends as we socially distance. After having the opportunity to sample some of this refreshing Pink Lemonade We are very confident that it will be a strong contender for our Ultimate Craft Cooler this year. So, try one today and bring yourself back to summers from the past with Blue Lobster Pink Lemonade.
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FEBRUARY 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2021
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