Jacine and her husband Paul own Matugga Distillers in West Lothian Scotland. Here, she explains the changes they had to make to their business to survive the last 12 months, inspiring more people from BAME backgrounds to enter the drinks industry, and her advice when it comes to facing change.
As entrepreneurs, how has 2020 been for business?
Like so many small businesses around the world, we navigated chaotic and uncertain times throughout 2020.
The huge surge in the e-commerce alcohol sector has created new digital opportunities for our business and we adapted. Lockdown drove increased website orders and our biggest ever month of sales presenting Paul with a welcomed challenge of increasing production at pace.
With our distillery tours on hold we also turned to virtual tasting events. Pivoting the experience online has been a brilliant way of remaining in contact with our growing community of rum novices and connoisseurs who wish to explore our rum-making craft and enjoy our spirits from the comfort of their own sofa.
How did you find those changes affected you and Paul personally and how did you navigate around them?
The entrepreneurial life is a rollercoaster. This is without doubt the most uncertain period we’ve known as business owners with no end in sight for the flux and unpredictability within our sector. We’ve had good days and not so good days throughout but we’ve risen to the demands of surviving situations we’ve never faced before. It goes without saying that the health and wellbeing of our family and our team has taken a priority.
Paul is a scientist and I am a creative and as a leadership team we’ve held on to the three graces every entrepreneur needs – purpose, adaptability and the optimistic energy to match our vision. From making hand sanitiser, to hosting new Instagram Live rum and food cooking segments, to navigating home schooling and caring for/shielding our multi-generational household – our approach has been to take one day at time over this uncertain journey.
Did you feel like you embraced these changes while also keeping the Matugga ethos alive?
We’re an early-stage and ambitious business and we’ve worked hard to not lose sight of the bigger picture, our strategic goals and the culture of our business – or The Matugga Way as we say internally.
We’ve strategically sustained our marketing investment and brand communications over the past 12 months, and in summer 2020 we released Liv Rum, a bold new artisan rum collection that we had hoped to launch before the coronavirus outbreak. As a companion brand for Matugga Rum, the new portfolio consists of white, spiced and flavoured rums and we quickly won a regional deal to supply Co-op. Liv has dramatically diversified our rum offering and is helping us to cultivate a new generation of rum drinker.
How did the conversations around racial diversity this year impact you as Black business owners?
The global narrative following the murder of George Floyd on 25 May brought issues of racism, diversity, leadership and social justice to the public arena in a way that could not be ignored and hadn’t been seen in decades. However, age-old questions remain: “What can we do” to achieve racial equity in modern society, but more importantly “Are we willing to do it?”
My family hails from Jamaica and my grandparents were part of the so-called Windrush generation that emigrated from the Caribbean to the UK during the 1950s. Paul was born in Uganda and retains deep ties to his ancestral heritage. Our company and brands draw upon our proud, rich African and Caribbean cultural heritage and it has been important for us to remain close to our roots. In fact, our range of spirits blend distilling skills honed in Scotland with the natural exuberance of Africa and the Caribbean.
At present, we are one of the only Black-owned distilleries in Scotland and the UK and we hope to inspire more individuals from BAME backgrounds to enter into the drinks industry. We believe that a culture of organisational diversity brings new skills to teams, drives innovation, improves brand reputation, attracts and retains new talent, opens business up to new markets, and more.
Above all, we want to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs from all backgrounds – including our two young daughters.
What advice would you have for anyone in your position experiencing monumental change in their profession/business?
‘The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new,’ Socrates.
Change is always happening whether we realise it or not. As entrepreneurs, we navigate this constant flux of stability to instability on a daily basis. On encountering any new scenario or at the beginning of any complex undertaking we may feel excited or overwhelmed or nervous. The difficulty is seeing beyond the moment.
Do not panic. Stay poised. There will be opportunities to move things forwards. Take an iterative approach – one foot in front of the other. The path often opens up. It also helps to have an optimistic frame of mind and to focus on the positive side of change. Whatever is happening at any given stage is only temporary. Perspective can help us to stay optimistic.
What does 2021 hold for Matugga?
We’re focusing on our long-term goals and cracking on with our growth plans. We are seeking to raise investment, grow our team and continue to drive awareness for our company and brands. We’ll continue to leverage new digital and e-commerce opportunities for sales, promotions and engagement to support post-pandemic growth.
We’re perpetual students – constantly working to improve our craftsmanship. We’ll continue to come up with interesting products and new and exciting ways of interacting with them. We’ll introduce unique limited edition cask-aged releases that will showcase our distilling craft, expert barrel selection and innovative finishing techniques.
The WSTA has crowned rum the ‘drink of lockdown’ and we’re aiming to capitalise on the rapidly growing domestic and export markets. It’s an exciting time for the UK’s burgeoning craft rum scene.