UK importer and distributor Proof Drinks is to handle Diageo’s Don Papa rum in the UK.
The deal, effective immediately, will mean “wider availability and enhanced support” for retailers and on-trade customers, Proof Drinks said in a statement today (3 February).
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The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Just Drinks has asked Proof Drinks for further details.
Diageo snapped up the Philippines rum brand in March 2023. According to the spirits giant’s 2023/24 financial report, it paid €246m ($252.7m) up-front.
The deal also included a “deferred consideration” of €4m and a “contingent consideration” of up to €178m. Diageo said that payment was “through to 2028 subject to certain financial performance targets, reflecting the brand’s expected growth potential”.
In the year covered by Diageo’s annual report, which ran to 30 June last year, Don Papa rum contributed $13m to the group’s net sales.
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By GlobalDataDon Papa rum was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Stephen Carroll, alongside Andrew John Garcia.
Among the brands Proof Drinks distributes in the UK is Mr Black, the coffee liqueur Diageo acquired in 2022.
“The team at Diageo have done a tremendous job nurturing and refining the remarkable vision originally created by Stephen Carroll,” Proof Drinks MD John Vider said today (3 February). “Their stewardship has not only elevated Don Papa to new heights but also contributed significantly to the growth of the super-premium rum category.”
Last year, Proof Drinks struck a deal to distribute the Finlandia vodka brand in the UK.
The company begun its distribution of Finlandia vodka as part of its partnership with Coca-Cola HBC in the country after the Coca-Cola bottler snapped up the vodka brand from Brown-Forman for $220m in 2023.
