“Select Brands was delighted to be the exclusive wines & spirits sponsor at the Jamaica Food & Drink Festival opening event, Pork Palooza where we focused on Stoli, which is known as ‘The Vodka’, and Santa Rita 120 wines from Chile. Wine and food are a natural marriage, so we paired the pork dishes with food-friendly wines and are very pleased with the outcome of the event as it was very well attended and our pairings were well received by patrons. The Santa Rita 120 winery is the ‘winery of the year 2016’, awarded by Wines of Chile in recognition of their quality and leadership as an ambassador for premium Chilean wines. At Pork Palooza, we showcased the sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon and undoubtedly the high-quality, easy-drinking style made them a perfect match for the evening. Stoli was the featured vodka with two signature cocktails: the Stoli blueberry lemonade as a sweeter option with blueberry flavours, and the Stoli mule, a more classic vodka cocktail, infusing Stoli vodka with ginger beer, making them a hit at the event! We also made available at the bar: Jameson Irish whiskey, Maker’s Mark bourbon, Grant’s whiskey, Sauza tequila, Rum Bar rum, Malibu coconut rum, El Dorado five-year-old rum, Southern Comfort and Courvoisier VS,” remarked a pleased Select Brands Brand Manager, Wines Jaime Bicknell, who along with her boss Co-Managing Director Andrew Desnoes, kept a trained eye on the patron experience at the distribution house’s mega-watering hole at Palm Drive East, Hope Gardens, Saturday last for the buzz-worthy opening night of the third annual Jamaica Food & Drink Festival.

Giving her take, too, on an adjacent brand approach for Pork Palooza was Marsha Lumley, head of marketing & corporate communications at Trade Winds Citrus. “It was really important to us to ensure that Tru-Juice was chilled and allowed consumers to enjoy our 500-millilitre single-serve, straight-from-the-new-cupboard-friendly packaging that was launched unto the market a few months ago. We wanted Pork Palooza patrons to interact with this new packaging and understand, even in this relaxing setting, the convenience it allows. It is with this in mind that we went even further by surprising departing patrons with a three-pack of one-litre and 500-millilitre options to take home and enjoy at their leisure.” Thursday Food looks to the titular ‘drink’ in the festival’s name for the sips that made an impression.