Twin entrepreneurs are set to conquer America with their range of natural mixers after winning a deal with retail giant Target.
Joyce and Raissa De Haas, 24, live in Shepherd’s Bush and founded Double Dutch Drinks while studying at University College London.
Their range of mixers are made from natural ingredients and are designed to go with spirits including gin, tequila and vodka. The four varieties are pomegranate and basil, watermelon and cucumber, and a regular and a slimline tonic.
Double Dutch is one of three London businesses which were named winners at the Virgin Start-Up Foodpreuner Festival this year. They travelled to Target head office in Minneapolis to pitch to the retailer.
Double Dutch Drinks, Cauli Rice — a range of long-life, ready-to-heat cauliflower rice — and Harry Brompton’s non-alcoholic London ice tea will now all be stocked in 300 Target stores.
The sisters, who are originally from the Netherlands, said: “We are super excited. We have some work to do on marketing the drinks as there isn’t really anything like us in the States at the moment and Target would like us to do some work on our packaging to communicate to our customers what to mix our drinks with.
“Being stocked in Target will change Double Dutch Drinks and give us huge exposure in the US.”
Their drinks can be bought from Harvey Nichols and Fortnum & Mason, and are served at London restaurants including the Michelin-starred Harwood Arms in Fulham, Park Lane’s Galvin at Windows and Mayfair restaurant Novikov.
Former oil broker Ian O’Donohue, 34, founder of Harry Brompton’s London Ice Tea, said: “We are over the moon to work with Target and although there are a number of things that need to be sorted to make it a reality we are really excited.”
Cauli Rice founder Gem Misa, 36, said: “We’ll be working to ensure that our product gets stocked at an affordable price even after shipping and customs fees are added in. The Foodpreneur competition has really helped accelerate our entry into America.”
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