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| High Commissioner Francis Molloi enjoying a glass of Amarula based drink with his wife
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A beaming H.C., Mr. Moloi explained to delWine, ‘Marula is a sweet and luscious fruit that grows on a tree which we South Africans call the Marriage Tree or the Elephant tree as elephants love to eat the fruit from this tree. So do we actually. The liqueur is made by mixing cream and sugar and then fermenting the fruit after peeling. It can be used for interesting food preparations for desserts and ice cream; I love it with coffee.’
Marius Fouche, the hard-core Distell man who started his career in 1992 with them and is now the MD, in charge of their marketing operations in Asia Pacific, Australasia and Middle East, came from Singapore for the launch. ‘I love coming to India as we sell various wines and spirits here. I hope people love the product as much as they do in over a hundred countries we have been exporting to for the last 20 years and give me a reason to come back more often,’ he says in jest
Amarula has the taste of slightly fruity caramel. Some people may find it too sweet but it has been increasingly getting popular since its launch in September 1989 and is next to Bailey’s in its popularity.
`Both directors of the Mumbai based company Jackie Matai and Arun Kumar were present for the launch along with the heads of their wine division, Sumedh Mandla. He has been inducted to the management team to focus on wine marketing. The company already represents the Distell owned Nederberg wines. ‘Amarula will be soon available in duty free shops, specialty wine shops and 5-star hotels,’ informed Mandla. ‘Flemingo has a tie up with Distell so we hope they will promote it aggressively at the airports in India’, he added. |