- Month long Irish Spirits Festival at Delhi Duty Free to mark St. Patrick’s Day
- Attractive discounts on all Irish offerings & an opportunity to win all expenses paid trip to Ireland
Delhi Duty Free, India’s largest duty free retail space at T3 at IGI Airport in Delhi & Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board have joined hands to bring together a month long Irish Spirits festival called the ‘Spirit of Ireland’. Coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated in Ireland on March 17 every year and to pay a befitting tribute to St. Patrick, a patron saint of Ireland, the month long festival will run at Delhi Duty Free from March 01-31, 2011.
As a part of the promotion, over 20 different Irish spirits brands and a variety of chocolates will be on offer at concessional prices at Delhi Duty Free. Select products will also be available for tasting. To mark the beginning of the festival, the Ambassador of Ireland, Mr. Kenneth Thompson unveiled the Irish whisky collection at the launch event. The collection would now be available at Delhi Duty Free from March 01, 2011.
Announcing the Festival, Mr. Kenneth Thompson said “St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated with a lot of fervor in Ireland during March and we thought this would ideally be the best time to bring in focus the Irish offerings in the form of Spirits and Chocolates. We are happy to partner with Delhi Duty Free as this will enable us to reach the maximum number of spirit lovers. The month long festivities begin from today i.e. March 1 and go on till 31st of the month during which Delhi Duty Free will have a complete Irish setting and ambience”.
“We at Delhi Duty Free have always launched promotions that are extremely exciting for the traveler. We are glad to tie hands with Bord Bia to promote Irish Spirits and bring forth their importance in the overall liquor market. We already have a dedicated section for single malts, Uisge Beatha, which means ‘Water of Life'. The promotion will enable travelers to taste a few brands, enjoy preferable prices on Irish products and also get to fill a coupon and avail a chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Ireland for a week for two couples” said Abhijit Das, Head of Marketing, Delhi Duty Free.
The festival will see different Irish spirit brands being available at concessional prices. To add to the attraction, a few of the selected brands would also be available for tasting at Delhi Duty Free. The festival, Spirit of Ireland also gives every purchaser of an Irish brand during the month of March the opportunity to win an exclusive week long holiday to Ireland with your loved one. All you have to do is buy any Irish brand, fill out a lucky draw coupon and two couples could win an all expenses paid trip to Ireland for a week.
Ireland is considered to be the birthplace of whiskey, with Irish monks and priests being the first ones to make whiskey. This practice then spread to Scotland. Irish whiskey, is currently one of the hottest spirits categories in the world and sold over 4.4 million cases in 2009 alone (figures courtesy IWSR - International Wine and Spirit Record). Irish Whiskey, unlike its Scotch counterpart, is generally triple distilled, giving it on the whole, a smooth and sweet taste profile.
Cream Liqueur is another category, which owes its birth to Ireland. Bailey’s was launched in Ireland in 1974 and is now sold in over 130 countries around the world and is now the 7th largest premium spirit brand in the world accounting for around 64% of the total world cream liqueur market. In 2009, global sales of Baileys reached approx 6 million 9 litre cases (source: IWSR). The next largest Irish cream liqueur is Carolans – selling 595k 9 litre cases and representing 6% of total cream liqueur sales.
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As with Irish whiskey, many entrepreneurs entered the market with their own brands and variations in order to cash in on the success of Baileys. Even today, there are more companies launching new Irish cream liqueurs.
About DDFS
Delhi Duty Free Services Pvt. Ltd. (DDFS) is a joint venture company between DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited), IDFS (Indian Duty Free Services) and ARI (Aer Rianta International). The company was awarded the concession to manage and operate the Duty Free Shops at Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. DDFS will be single largest duty free retail operator in India operating out of T3, the 6th largest single terminal building in terms of floor area. As India’s progressive economy continues to grow, DDFS sees an exciting opportunity within the airport retailing business ensuring Delhi Duty Free is established as one of the world’s prominent travel retail shopping experiences and destination.
About Bord Bia
Bord Bia (The Irish Food Board) is the Irish government agency charged with the promotion, trade development and marketing of the Irish food, drink and horticulture industry. Its mission is to deliver effective and innovative market development, promotion and information services to assist companies grow and win new business.
Bord Bia works in partnership with this industry to increase the sales and exports of Irish food, drink and horticulture by developing long-term relationships between Irish companies and trade buyers. This is achieved by delivery of core services to the customer - trade buyers - and to Irish food, drink and horticultural (including amenity horticulture) companies.