Business Enquirer Issue 114 | CURIUS | Food & Beverage | June'23

DISRUPTIVE DRINKS FROM CENTRAL EUROPE CURIUS

DISRUPTIVE DRINKS FROM CENTRAL EUROPE

The saying goes, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. But should you judge a drink by its bottle? The founders of Curius certainly think so.

Collectively, the founders of Curius, Alexander Curiger, Mats Olsson, and Juan Carlos Maroto Jara, have 50 years experience in launching FMCG and luxury brands. Having garnered their experience with the likes of L’Oreal, Red Bull and Pernod Ricard, it’s now the turn of their own, unique, drinks brands.

Alexander, who spoke exclusively to Business Enquirer about the launch of Curius’ three disruptive drinks, is also the man behind Silverbogen AG, the drinks marketer and distributor.

“With the hospitality sector closing down for a large proportion of the pandemic, there was huge growth in beverage e-Commerce,” shared Alexander, “we had been talking for years about doing something together and a crisis like Covid-19 was the perfect opportunity to kick-start the project with a gamechanging approach. We knew we would need to focusing on creating brands conceptualised in a digital environment, easily decodable for the consumer and putting first logistic benefits, that’s the CURIUS motto: design with purpose”.

CURIUS PROJECT

DIRECTED BY: CHARLOTTE ROPE

ARTICLE

WRITTEN BY: LAURA WATLING

The Swiss beverage company disrupting from the outside in

A Drink for All the Senses

The first product to be launched by Curius is Match Tonic Water.

“We chose the name Match, as tonic water is rarely consumed on its own - but it’s the perfect match for spirits like gin. We’re also looking for other innovative matches with other trending topic spirits,” explained Alexander.

Curius’ concept is unique, starting from the outside and working in. “We always work by creating a purpose-driven bottle, secondary packaging (four-packs) and label design first, and then we work on a liquid to fit the concept,” Alexander continued.

Whilst Match’s bottle is made from 100% post-recycled glass and all the range is formulated with a superfoods, whats really unique is its shape.

At the end of 2021 Addison Lee shared research that showed 40% of all one-star retailers' reviews in the UK boil down to delivery issues. Not only does it leave a sour taste in the buyer’s mouth, it also costs businesses money in replacement packages.

Designed with delivery in mind, Match comes in an unusual, square, bottle. By changing the traditional cylindrical tonic bottle to a square, Curius have managed to industrialise something completely unprecedented, reducing pressure points. In addition, the square design means less packaging is needed as bottles fit compactly together where the stackability it’s another key benefit.

“To accommodate the square bottle design, we had to completely change the existing bottle line and ended up creating our own. We also had challenges with carbon pressure inside the square bottle

which required a lot of R & D as there was no precedent for this in the industry,” shared Alexander.

Not only does Match’s unique shape stand out for its competition, it also increases the amount of product able to fit on shelves at least by around 20%.

Match aims to push boundaries at every touch point, from its bespoke label to its four-pack container and handle.

Having seen popularity via e-Commerce, Match is now moving into the hospitality sector, with the potential for value-added products.

“We’ll be launching add-ons which will allow the bottles to be reusable in other ways, proudly pushing our circular credentials, such as a spout to create an oil pourer,” said Alexander, “we’ll also create special edition bottles using waste glass when the glass ovens change colour, turning the waste into a collection of "wild" bottles, as each one will be unique”.

With Match growing in Europe, Curius will be launching the tonic brand in the US, LATAM, APAC, Emirates and Australia in the coming months.

A Spirtited Curius-ity

On the horizon for Curius is the launch of its two spirit brands - Kabuki and Veta+.

Kabuki, which is planned to launch in Q3 2023, is considered an alternative way to look at Japanese whisky under the idea of “Respect the Unexpected”

Kabuki is a new take on world-blend, deluxe whisky. Aged in Mizunara rare casks, it aspires to become one of today’s most contemporary whiskies. Once again, Curius have taken a designcentric approach with the brand.

“With its design and high-quality packaging, Kabuki is a premium whisky brand which respects Japanese culture with an ultra-contemporary vision not based on typical clichés. The bottle has a unique shape, and like all of our brands,

Alexander Curiger Founder & CEO

Mats Olsson Co-Founder & COO

Juan Carlos Maroto Jara Co-Founder & CMO

stands out from its competitors,” said Alexander.

Meanwhile, Veta+ is a horizontal range of spirits, which includes a vintage single malt whisky crafted with exceptional patience; a triple distilled gin crafted with absolute precision; and a rum aged with respect and curiosity.

“The inspiration for Veta+ is to be quintessentially Swiss - with the bottle featuring clear lines and simplicity,” explained Alexander, “the beverage is a reliable safe haven, just like the famous Swiss bank upgrading the end-consumer thanks to its extremely well made spirits and a vessel that does not go unnoticed”.

Each bottle of spirit comes with its unique,

wooden label, another opportunity for Curius to push boundaries in manufacturing and packaging.

“We’re looking to launch Veta+ in Q2 2024. Currently for all of our brands we’re looking for the right partners in the right channels, so we also do not follow a traditional “route to market” scheme, micro-segmenting it to the skills of each local partner as the need of each CURIUS brand in particular.” shared Alexander.

Unquestionable Quality, Awarded Design

Driven to be considered the industry's most unique tonic water, it’s unsurprising that Match’s bottle has been recognised by the most reputable design awards worldwide.

Beating 11,000 entries, Match was recently recognised as one of the 2023 iF Gold Design Award winners. Curius has also been hailed by the Pentawards, a leader in packaging design, achieving an unequalled milestone by winning four awards in the year of its debut.

They also succumbed to CURIUS' proposal in at the German Design Awards.

Ultimately, Curius want to tackle the beverage industry similarly to the beauty and lifestyle industry.

“Of course, the quality of the liquid is important, but unlike competitors, we only consider it 95% important. Our designs are purpose driven and always have strong & unique a story to tell,” explained Alexander.

Curius was established during the Covid-19 lockdown whilst Alexander, Mats, and Juan Carlos were all located in different countries.

“It meant that the business was built on a foundation of mutual trust and respect. We always look to learn and grow, and we’re not afraid of failure,” said Alexander.

Rather than a sales driven team, Curius focuses on employing colleagues who are able to embrace the brand’s story, and ensure the products look and feel is brought to the fore - people are said to eat (and in this context, drink) with their eyes, after all.

www.curius.com