THE ENTREPRENEUR-SPIRATION SERIES: TALKING DOUBLE DUTCH
As the first in our Entrepreneur-spiration series, we are excited to share the inspiring brand story of entrepreneur duo, Joyce & Raissa de Haas; Co-Founders of award winning new premium mixer brand Double Dutch.
Meet Joyce & Raissa.
No you are not seeing double, they are indeed twins, and these two are taking the premium mixer market by storm with the launch of their delicious, low calorie drinks and unique brand philosophy.
Premium mixers with a twist
Using food pairing techniques, Double Dutch mixers bring natural ingredients and innovative flavour combinations together in a way that compliments and enhances premium spirits. They are light, refreshing and the original flavour combinations such as Cucumber and Watermelon, and Pomegranate and Basil are mouth-wateringly good.
To be enjoyed either on their own as a soft drink, or to enhance the high quality of gins or vodkas, the Double Dutch range makes an innovative alternative to the majority of soft drinks available on a night out. Which is one of the reasons why Double Dutch is stocked in staggering array of top end bars and restaurants across London and the UK - the Novikov, The Dorchester & Galvin at Windows - to name but a few.
So what is their secret? I went to meet Joyce & Raissa to find out more about the Double Dutch brand and to see if they would share their recipe for creating a successful brand story.
Let’s start at the beginning
Originally from the Netherlands, Joyce and Raissa moved to London at the end of 2013 to do a masters in Technology Entrepreneurship at UCL. Having finishing their studies the twins originally chose a career in banking, but they quickly realised that the path that everyone else was taking was not the right path for them.
“We used to make our own soft drinks back in the Netherlands when we were at university, and had a deal with our uni mates that they would buy the spirits and we would bring the soft drinks. We used to make them in our kitchen using different flavours and ingredients and bottle them using soda stream. It was then we realised there was a gap in the market…”
At UCL, the course enabled them to develop a startup idea they were passionate about, and it was during this time the Double Dutch drinks concept was born. Joyce & Raissa won the UCL Bright Ideas award for Start-Up with the Most Potential, giving them the initial investment and network of contacts to to start turn their idea into to reality.
Graduating from UCL at the end of 2014, and with the support of the award and grant, the Double Dutch team moved straight into product development, production and fearlessly going after the customers they wanted for the brand.
“We made a list of 50 high end restaurants and bars that we wanted to target to get Double Dutch sold in. We found people on LinkedIn and Facebook, called, emailed and chased them until we could get a meeting to go and see them. Our first customer was the Novikov, and once we had one, then we started getting introduced to other bar managers and restaurant managers through their networks, and that’s really how it started.”
Not only is the brand growing in the UK, but they are exporting across Europe, and beyond; 2015 has been a huge year for the brand. After winning the Virgin 2015 Foodpreneur Festival award and having the opportunity to pitch to US retail giant Target where they won the listing; they are now poised to crack the US and Australia markets in 2016. A phenomenal amount of success for a brand that is only just over a year old.
But the twins are only just getting started. When asked what the future hold for Double Dutch, they turn and look at each other with a wry smile.
“World domination - just kidding!”
“We are focused on the mixer market as we know there is a big gap in the here in the UK and across the world and so this is our main priority for 2016. We are working to develop new flavours for 2016 and also a brand new premium mixer specifically for the darker spirits market - such as Rum and Whiskey, using our unique food pairing techniques. We will also focus on growing our international markets as we start to ship to Target and sell in the US & Australia.”
In a whirlwind year, Joyce and Raissa are definitely taking their success in their stride. The twins are the face of the brand and are tirelessly working to realise their vision for it. Their marketing plans largely centre on events where they can get the product into the hands of their bar & restaurant customers, and partnering with premium Gin brands has been a successful way to gain traction as a relatively new brand on the market.