Side hustle to day job: this Miamian is launching premium rum with help from Mr. Killa

When he was 24 years old, Omar Sow began distributing bottled water in the Caribbean as a side gig to his corporate job in sales.

Two years later, Sow matched his corporate salary and ditched his day job. Today, at 33, he runs beverage management company Caribbean International, which imports more than 200 wine and spirits brands from 31 suppliers in 11 countries into PortMiami and sends them throughout the Caribbean.

In 2019, he imported more than 10,000 cases of wine and liquor into Miami — part of the total $330 million in liquor imported them PortMiami in 2019, according to WorldCity, a Miami trade-data tracking firm.

Caribbean International’s latest venture: its own premium rum.

Sow, who studied filmmaking at Marist College, plans to launch the new rum during the 2021 Miami Film Festival in March with a 60-minute film, “Made in Paradise,” that he wrote and directed. Listed as ‘under consideration’ for the festival, the documentary explores rum’s origins and its iconic status as the liquor of choice throughout the Caribbean.

A soundtrack punctuated by soca hits like Rick T’s “Sweet St. Lucia” and “Spice Island Rock” by Mr. Killa, a native son of Grenada, punches up the movie.

“Well, when you say rum and soca, it already sounds like a soca song,” said Mr. Killa, who said he was happy to contribute his song to the soundtrack. “The Caribbean is carnival and rum, the two go hand in hand as carnival is about freeing up yourself and having a good time and rum helps you do just that. Coming together, socializing and having a good time is the Caribbean vibe. So, it’s a natural marriage.”

While 2020 alcohol sales are up slightly in the U.S., industry experts expect them to slide about 8% globally. In the tourism-dependent Caribbean, the curtailment of the cruise industry, shutdowns and quarantines have all slowed business. Though Barbados has reopened, visitorship remains sluggish.

That hasn’t deterred Sow and his team.

Joseph “Jerry” Edwards, a former master blender for Mount Gay rum, came out of retirement to partner with Caribbean International on the formulation of the new rum, which will be made in Trinidad. Courtney Louis, the chief executive of St. Lucia-based Stratosphere Muzic, served as music director for “Made in Paradise.” Filming of the movie, which was three years in the making, wrapped just before the pandemic hit.

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With so many of his label’s artists’ touring schedules curtailed by the pandemic, Louis said the movie was a good way “to promote their music and sound. We have a lot of cool development ideas where the artists and the new rum can come together for unbelievable marketing.”

Rum — so closely associated with Caribbean music, parties and life — typically is a young islander’s first alcoholic beverage, said Dane Marshall, Caribbean International’s Barbados-based sales manager. “Rum and coke, rum and ginger, rum and Sprite,” he says. “It’s a money thing. For them it’s a better value and they can drink longer.”

That made it the logical choice for the company’s first proprietary product, Sow said. Caribbean International will be prospecting for rum sales in the Caribbean and, for the first time, also targeting the U.S. market.

“We want to move beyond just managing other people’s brands,” he said.

But the rum category is also crowded and highly competitive. In 2020, rum was the world’s second most popular spirits category and represented a $15 billion market, according to Market Data Forecast. Among the market heavyweights are Asahi Group Holdings, Bacardi, Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A, Demerara Distillers, Diageo, LT Group, Nova Scotia Spirit Co., Pernod Ricard, Suntory Holdings, and William Grant & Sons.

Sow said he has no qualms about taking on the big players. “Not at all. Our pricing is good, and our quality and story are better. The movie separates us from the competition,” he said.

The entrepreneur is keeping most of the details about the new rum – even its name – private until the launch for competitive and marketing reasons.

His new venture rests on nearly a decade of success as an importer and distributor.

When Sow began the company, he barely drank and knew little about wine, he said. What he did know was Caribbean culture and the uniqueness of each island. His understanding of the market and expertise in digital marketing is what he sold to clients around the world.

“These wineries and distillers don’t know how to market to a Bajan (resident of Barbados), for example,” said Sow.

Individual islands also were too small for many of them to go after. “One island by itself is small but collectively the Caribbean is quite large” said Sow. “It made sense for us to go after the distillers and wineries that had no representation in the Caribbean.”

Vinoterra, a Spanish winery, became his first wine client. Today, Caribbean International distributes products ranging from entry-level wines and spirits to ultra-premium brands such as Glengoyne Single Malt Scotch Whisky. “I have some products that retail for $500 a bottle,” said Sow, “but we have something for everyone.” Among the company’s other brands are Susana Balbo wines from Argentina and Senior & Co.’s The Genuine Curacao liqueur.

To grow the business, won over some big regional distributors, convincing them he could increase sales through strategic marketing and brand development.

Among them is Hanschell Inniss, one of the largest food and beverage distributors in Barbados, which sells brands that include Smirnoff, Ovaltine, Pepsi, Pillsbury, Kellogg’s, Gordon’s gin, Marlboro, and Cuervo tequila. The company chose to work with Sow even though it could have sourced the wine and spirits brands Caribbean International handles through other suppliers.

Hanschell Inniss likes Caribbean International’s approach, said Vidia Woods, chief executive.

“[Sow] doesn’t just send a shipping container down and say ‘sell it.’ If a product isn’t working, he’ll say, ‘Let’s try something else and see if it is a better fit.’

“Omar understands the Caribbean ... He understands what fits for our market and he bring an energy and flexibility.

With larger companies, Woods said, “you cannot get the customized service and level of attention. A big company might say, ‘This is our portfolio, take it or leave it.’

Woods said she especially appreciates how Caribbean International helps develop brands.

The company works with Caribbean influencers, giving its brands a social media presence that has drawn more than 10,000 followers on Instagram thirsty for images of cocktails, parties and interesting food pairings featuring the brands it represents.

On-island marketing can include towel and other merchandise giveaways, store banners or radio, television and billboard advertising.

Among the company’s most successful promotions have been soca parties featuring well-known artists, said Marshall.

“That’s our secret sauce,” said Sow. “It’s why people go to our parties. We make it lively; we make it fun.”

Caribbean International also works closely with club owners and bartenders to host events and parties featuring its products and encourages them to come up with special cocktail recipes. The current trend in the Caribbean is toward flavorful drinks and anything that’s sweet, said Marshall.

“Even if it’s a wine, it has to be sweet,” he said. Younger women especially, he said, are into “flavorful drinks.”

To appeal to the youth market, Caribbean International sponsored Victor White, a freestyle skier who is Barbados’ first winter athlete, at the 2019 World Freestyle Ski Championships in Park City, Utah and at several other events. After a 2019 European Cup event in Poland where White took a silver in the Big Air event, he can be seen breaking out a bottle of Carati prosecco, brand in Caribbean International’s portfolio.

It was a natural fit for what Sow calls a “millennial” company. Caribbean International is based in Castries, St. Lucia, but has no bricks-and-mortar office. A team of 10 works from various islands with Sow in Miami, chosen because of its proximity to both the islands and potential U.S. market sellers. Partners provide the logistics of storage and shipping — a strategy that enabled the company to be profitable “almost from day one,” because it didn’t have the expense of its own offices, trucks and warehouses, said Sow.

But location is sometimes irrelevant. “I can ship a pallet of wine from Chile and be in Dubai,” Sow said.

Reach Mimi Whitefield at mimiwhitefield@gmail.com and @HeraldMimi on Twitter.

This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 7:00 AM.