FOOD & DRINK
Wimbledon, you think of Pimm’s. During the two weeks of Wimbledon last year, 177,135 glasses of Pimm’s were sold within the grounds alone.
There have been other Fruit Cups avail- able throughout history of course. Plymouth Gin have had their own Fruit Cup for decades, although it is only now available from the distillery itself. Chase, Master of Malt and Fortnum & Mason all have a version of the ‘Summer Cup’ too. Sipsmith’s valiant attempt to launch their Summer Fruit Cup (recently rebranded as London Cup) has helped greatly to show- case that Pimm’s is not a just drink on its own but merely the last remainder of what has become, until recently, an almost defunct category.
Their offering was, and arguably still is, the catalyst for the new-found interest in the category. With their impressive and con- tinued growth, give it a few years and we predict that Pimm’s will no longer be the only one in that ‘summer picnic special’ shelf of every supermarket in the UK.
Another sign that things are changing is Brooke’s, (typically a brand reserved ex- clusively for export markets), which is now available nation-wide in Majestic. A quick look at the effort that M&S have placed on their supermarket home brand
So ubiquitous and inexpensive is Pimm’s today, that it’s
considered a basic staple of British supermarkets.
1972 promotional poster
version is also a good indicator that there might be some wider interest from the supermarkets themselves to challenge the status quo. Ironically, as Sipsmith tried to break the monopoly and turn tides of branded deckchairs from Pimm’s red to Sipmsith yellow in festival sites and foodie shows, Pimm’s have revived sister editions to make a product that can be sold out- side of summer. Out of this explosion of ideas will emerge the next generation of brands and even if none make the transi- tion from amateur concoction to serious brand status, this groundswell of geekery will help elevate the wares of the current pretenders to the throne to a much wider audience.
We’ve always enjoyed infusing gins, making our fruit syrups and making our own ver- sion of the summer classic. We encourage you to do the same. After all, Pimm’s No.1 Cup itself began as just one of many ‘cups’ in their own bar, let alone as one of many bars making their own in the UK.
Olivier Ward is Editor and co-founder of Gin Foundry. He is shortlisted as IWSC’s Communicator of the Year 2017 and has been named by USA Today as one of the foremost specialist authorities on gin. Outside of his work on Gin Foundry’s
platforms, Olivier is Channel 4’s resident Gin Expert on Sunday Brunch, has presented sections on gin cocktails for ITV This Morning and features regularly talking about the category on BBC radio. He can be reached at
Olivier@ginfoundry.com
www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 23
1950s promotional poster James Pimm
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