Mermaid Gin turns 10
The Isle of Wight Distillery is in double-digit growth, and after celebrating a decade of making Mermaid gin, it’s time to get clear about objectives, says co-founder Xavier Baker. Amelie Maurice-Jones reports.
The Isle of Wight’s first distillery raised a glass to 10 years of its flagship product, Mermaid gin, at a party in Wright Brothers, south London, on Wednesday.
Founded by Xavier Baker and Conrad Gauntlett in 2014, the Isle of Wight Distillery produces a range of spirits from rum, to vodka, to canned drinks. But its crown product is Mermaid, a dry gin handcrafted with ten botanicals, including elderflower from local fields, and wild-foraged rock samphire, which, known locally as ‘mermaid’s kiss’, clings to the island’s cliffs.
Speaking to the drinks business, Xavier Baker took us back to Mermaid’s origins in 2015. Right from the start he set out to create a “beautiful and sustainable” bespoke bottle. A bold move for a small distillery, Baker recalled, “we went for it and it really opened us up.”
Now, Mermaid gin is found in 52 countries across every continent. If you stacked every single one of the bottles ever made, they’d span 166 miles. This week, the distillery launched a 46% ABV limited-edition 10th Anniversary Gin, featuring foraged leaves from one of the UK’s oldest fig trees.
Celebrating success
“It’s quite overwhelming really,” said Baker, reflecting on the B-corp-certified company’s success. “We’re in a great trade. It’s pretty fast-moving, it’s intense, but we’ve got a great team. We’re really fortunate.”
Of course, no man is an island, and no island distillery is just one man. From the get-go, the Isle of Wight community rallied around Baker’s business. Speaking at the anniversary event in Battersea, he said: “The support we’ve had as a whole has been incredible, so we’re hugely grateful for the whole journey. Here we are 10 years and onto another 10 years.”
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But the journey hasn’t been without its hurdles. Covid was a big one. “We thought we were going to go bust,” admitted Baker, before the brand cleverly leapfrogged into the hand sanitiser business. Brexit was also tough, and now there’s the storm of American tariffs and changing drinking habits, which the brand is catering to with a ‘low-tide’ menu and savoury spirits: “It keeps us on our toes”.
Jumping on the gin boom
Speaking to db, Malcolm McClellan, Isle of Wight Distillery’s sale director, added: “When we started we were lucky enough to catch the gin boom, so we rode that for a few years.
“Fortunately, we got into the export business, which is a whole different scene. In the last few years, partners in the licensed trade have suffered. Everybody knows it’s not as good as it was. We’re still in double digit growth… It’s a question of managing the opportunities, helping partners and not panicking.
“The UK needs help. We need support, we need people to stop battering us. Internationally, America’s booming, Asia’s booming. It’s a lot of positive.”
Future growth?
Mermaid Gin launched in the US in 2023 with two cruise lines. And Baker’s eyeing further on-trade growth opportunities in Europe and America. Still, the focus, now, is to buckle down the hatches. “Just through the natural evolution of us, we’ve strayed,” he admitted. Now, it’s time to reign things in and get crystal clear about objectives: “Where do we want to be seen? How do we want to be seen? Where’s Mermaid gonna be?”
McClellan, for one, is “full of optimism”. He added: “We’re fortunate that we’re in the position to exploit these markets as they evolve. We’re in double-digit growth, which is unusual in the trade generally. It’s a nice, good brand, it’s got to do well.”
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