How do you solve bottling challenges for smaller, craft spirits brands, while navigating complex markets such as Haiti and Ukraine? In our first podcast episode recorded overseas, Zak Oganian, CEO of Origen X, delves into all of these subjects, and more.
In the latest episode of The Spirits Business Podcast, Zak Oganian, CEO of Origen X, discusses his commitment to building legacy spirits brands, the challenges of navigating markets such as Ukraine and Haiti and bottling conundrums in Ireland, to name just a few key talking points.
Oganian swapped a career in law to pursue a passion for spirits – specifically those with intriguing histories and the potential to build lasting legacies.
“How Origen X came to be is one project, which of course is Kinahan’s whiskey, which was the first and leading project we took over,” Oganian said. “Having created the proof of concept of a legacy – resurrected, authentic, historic, a strictly heritage-driven brand going into international markets, and slowly but surely becoming popular again and relevant again – we realised we should copy and paste, and go into other categories. Then slowly, we’ve replicated the very same model of a heritage project that is modernised and turned into something that is relevant again across other segments, and it’s working well.”
With a portfolio that also includes historic Ukrainian vodka Mikolasch and Haitian rum Bouvil, Oganian has some difficult markets to navigate.
Asked how he and his team are navigating two complex markets like Ukraine and Haiti, Oganian said: “The simple answer is it’s difficult. We didn’t select those markets based on any other merit than what we believe is going to be extremely valuable in 20 or 30 years. Once you make that decision, everything else becomes secondary – this is why we don’t mind resolving the problems we have to resolve.
“Problems are plentiful, on a multitude of levels – from things like getting materials into those jurisdictions, to dealing with customs, which have obviously very different principles than established Western principles, where we take a lot of things for granted.
“Moving things across the border within Europe is [difficult] after Brexit in the UK. I know a lot of people are complaining, but this is a walk in the park versus doing something like this, with some other countries that have a very different approach – to put it mildly – to the way the documents work, or the way import/export works.
“Haiti is a very troubled land. But the reason we chose this [rum] is because we believe that the most valuable rum brands in the future will be island rums.”
Origen X launches Irish Bottling Company
Another challenge Oganian has noticed is a shortage of large bottling options in the Republic of Ireland, which poses a particular problem for smaller, craft Irish spirits.
In a bid to solve the ‘bottleneck’ issue, Origen X revealed the launch of the Irish Bottling Company this month. The facility has the capacity to bottle five million units annually, spanning 17 types of spirits, and five bottle sizes.
“In Ireland, what I found is this: you have a handful of big, professional, fully automated bottling service providers that – rightly, not wrongly – want to cater to their business, and so they are interested in facilitating simple, high-volume, high-speed bottling operations, which is great for established brands,” Oganian said. “But for new brands, it’s completely impossible to keep up.”
Episode 11 of The Spirits Business Podcast is available to listen to on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon.
Alternatively, click the link below to listen to the latest episode with Zak Oganian.
Episodes one to seven featured Brothers’ Bond Bourbon, Equal Measures, Sastrería Martinez, The Pinnacle Guide, Be Inclusive Hospitality, OurWhisky Foundation, Equiano Rum, Renais Gin, Felipe Schrieberg, and Sam Simmons.
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Author: Melita Kiely
