US deal with World's Best Vodka, made in the UK

Chase Distillery Appoints Pelican Brands as Exclusive US Brand Manager for its Range of Artisan English Spirits and Liqueurs.

Based in the heart of the Herefordshire countryside, Chase Distillery is an English artisan spirits company, founded by UK Entrepreneur William Chase in 2007 and a distiller of the “World’s Best Vodka”, as voted by the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2010 – and indeed the only English potato vodka in the world.

In partnership with Chase Distillery, Pelican Brands today confirmed its appointment as the exclusive brand manager for Chase’s super premium spirit portfolio in the U.S market with immediate effect.

Pelican Brands is the fastest growing full service brand platform in the global beverage industry, based in Carmel, IN, USA. This deal represents a further significant step in the development of Pelican’s portfolio.

“After two years of successful growth we are now being sold in some of the most prestigious of venues in the UK such as The Ivy, The Ritz and Harrods. We also secured the accolade of the “World’s Best Vodka” at the prestigious and globally renowned San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and we do now feel the time is right to enter the US market,” said Will Chase, Founder and CEO Chase Distillery. “Success in the US is the benchmark for all spirit brands and businesses like ours and as such it is a fiercely competitive market. It is critical that we enter the US with the right partner and we have been extremely impressed by Pelican Brands’ people, processes and ambitions.”

J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman & CEO of Pelican Brands, said, “We are building a very exciting and powerful portfolio of spirit brands and the opportunity to partner with the ‘World’s Best’ vodka was too good to miss. More important than the awards is the deep integrity and care with which Chase brands are made. I am delighted to be working with Will and his team and looking forward to future successes.”

Pelican Brands will launch Chase Distillery’s flagship brand Chase Vodka and Chase Elderflower Liqueur - which gains its genuine quality from the fact it is made with Chase Vodka - in key markets in the US in September with full national roll outs planned soon thereafter. Other exciting brands from the Chase portfolio will be launched in due course.

“Pelican sets much store on the integrity of its brands and brand partners, and so we are delighted to be working with Chase Distillery,” said Don C. Hammond, President of Pelican Brands. “We all know just how tough the vodka market is but there is always room for a brand made with genuine care and attention. Chase Vodka needs no hype – just taste it and you will know why its been voted the World’s Best. I am also excited to be bringing Chase’s premium liqueurs to the market: I know that our partners nationwide, be they distributors or retailers, will be just as enthused as we are when they discover what happens when you make liqueurs using only the finest ingredients and the World’s Best vodka as your base. No-one else is doing this. In fact the response to our initial presentations in key markets has been overwhelmingly positive, the like of which I have rarely if ever seen” Mr. Hammond, who began his career with P&G and Gallo and ran McCormick’s Spirit Division, continued “I look forward to presenting Chase brands to our distribution partners very soon.”