BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE St. Kitts Bottling Company Ltd. will begin offering the public an opportunity at sampling some of their latest products.
This announcement was made yesterday (Dec. 9) by the company’s Director of Operations, Gene Howell, in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes Business.
Howell said one of the new products is called Full Throttle, and the public would have its first sample of this alcohol beverage tomorrow (Dec. 11) from 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. at the Strip in Frigate Bay.
He declared that the company plans to host more sampling events of the product around the island, but the venues have not yet been confirmed.
Full Throttle is a Coca Cola-branded product and St. Kitts Bottling Company Ltd. was granted the franchise to have it manufactured in this part of the world.
According to Accounts Executive Tonecia Rogers, the new product would be competing directly with Red Bull of which Rams Trading Ltd. is the agent. She noted that their company is cognisant of Red Bull’s popularity but they are prepared to compete effectively.
“We are aware of how popular the Red Bull brand is in the local market, but we are very confident that, based on our marketing plan, we will be able to capture our target market,” Rogers said.
She also said Full Throttle has a number of advantages, noting it is cheaper than Red Bull and the quality is unbeatable.
“When we thought of launching this product we considered a number of factors, because we recognised that people are monitoring their spending. We also recognised that while the value of the product was at a certain level, our primary objective is to get it into the market. So we made it affordable so that partygoers can still enjoy a quality product at a very reasonable price,” she explained.
The Accounts Executive pointed out that while there are many anticipated challenges when launching new products in the market, her company is fortunate to not be plagued by some of them.
“Our primary challenges are getting the product out into the market so that the public knows that they have an option when drinking, and also introducing the value and benefits of Full Throttle to everyone.”
Sharing similar sentiments was her colleague Charmaine Saunders, who stressed that planning is always very critical in the success of any product.
“Planning and better understanding the market are of key importance, as once we would have planned our marketing strategy properly we would succeed in the market. People are always looking for better quality and prices and, once delivered properly, it will yield the anticipated success,” she argued.
Saunders disclosed that she and Rogers were tasked to manage the market, because part of their responsibilities in the company entails effectively marketing new and existing products.
“We recognise that we have a challenging job, but we are confident that because of the very high standard and quality of products coming out of the St. Kitts Bottling Company Ltd., our set goals of market saturation and popularity are achievable,” Saunders said.
Both women issued a passionate appeal to the public to come out and get their free sampling of some of the products, stressing that the taste would ensure their return for more.
Rogers said while they have not aggressively marketed the product thus far, they are satisfied with the response they have achieved in terms of market support.
“We have only been selling the product for the past two months and the suggested retail price for a can of Full Throttle is EC$6.50,” she said.
Saunders is urging the public to familarise themselves with the new product.
“You can only be able to appreciate the quality and value of Full Throttle when you would have tasted it; so I hope that you can all come and sample it on Saturday morning. This product is excellent in taste and value and therefore our confidence are high that the views will continue to remain positive,” she assured.
