Luxury gin Renais partners with FreeWorld Brands to enter travel retail
Renais gin is targeting growth in travel retail
Luxury gin brand Renais is collaborating with Ireland-based travel retail specialist FreeWorld Brands, as it ramps up its global expansion.
The partnership follows successful launches in the UK, Italy, Germany, France and Netherlands, and most recently, the US with Republic National Distributing Company.
Established in 2023 by siblings Alex and Emma Watson, Renais is carving a new path in the world of craft gin, a blend of family, star-power and industry acumen. Its provenance born from two generations of Watson family wine making at the family’s Domaine Watson vineyard in Chablis, the name Renais means ‘Rebirth’ in French, and is a nod to its distinct winemaking heritage and production process of distilling grapes.
Alex Watson, commented, “The Travel Retail market is strategically hugely important for Renais. We are excited to be partnering with Sean McNaughten and the FreeWorld team, who bring the necessary expertise to take us into this most challenging of marketplaces. We look forward to accelerating the global growth we have achieved to date with our new partners”.
Renais was developed by siblings Alex and Emma Watson
FreeWorld Brands was established in 2022 by Sean McNaughten who has been active in leadership positions in the beverages and duty free travel retail industries for over two decades. FreeWorld was set up to partner with internationally focused brands that can travel beyond borders and be part of the duty free and travel retail industry.
“We are very excited by Renais Gin and the role it can play internationally and especially in duty free and travel retail,” McNaughten said. “The fact that Renais is distilled from grapes and has such an interesting provenance makes the brand and the story perfect for duty free channels globally. Of course, having such interesting and committed founders as Alex and Emma Watson is also brilliant for the storytelling that is so important for international brands today.”
Renais is cultivated in France and distilled in the UK. Alex Watson was inspired to create a spirit distilled from the grapes salvaged from the winemaking process, with the addition of pressed grapes from the winemaking production, local terroir and a selection of natural botanicals. The result is a vibrant, complex and smooth honey hued gin. Its bottle a nod to the artisanal nature of its craft and community and the only gin to be derived from a terroir, capturing the spirit and heritage of French winemaking, exciting both sommeliers and bartenders alike.
