NEWBIES: Spearhead Spirits – why aren't we all drinking African gin?
Western drinkers are missing out on an entire continent of flavors. Spearhead Spirits are building a portfolio of brands to fix that.
In NEWBIES, we share quick profiles of growing young bev/alc brands (like Wild Mannered and Mario’s Hard Espresso). If you like this, then we’d love you to subscribe (or get in touch and tell us about your brand).
Imagine: you’re at a bar and you ask them: “do you have anything African to pour?” The answer is no. And it’s no at the next bar, and the next and the next and the next…..
“The continent is full of incredible flavors, traditions, and stories,” says Spearhead Spirits co-founder Damola Timeyin, “so why isn’t it represented in the spirits world?”
Such frustrations are what brands are made of. After years of asking the same question and getting the same answer, Damola – whose background is in banking, tech and (handily) advertising for big drinks brands – got together with long-time friend Chris Frederick. Spearhead Spirits was born.
But before we get into the story there’s one huge question:
Why is Africa so underrepresented?
Obviously, it’s not that African countries aren’t making great bev/alc options, it’s just that very few of them (aside from maybe Amarula, a cream liqueur made from the marula tree) have broken through to mainstream global distribution, or found a meaningful place on the backbar.
Fixing that is a huge challenge.
It’s not just about making an incredible brand. It’s not just about distribution, or education or competition. It’s all of those things at once. Categories have been dominated by other brands for decades, which means African spirits have a huge job ahead of them, if they want to crack open these categories. It means going up against global giants with some of the deepest pockets in the biz.
“For us, being new to the industry has really been a case of building the plane while learning to fly it,” says Damola. “But that’s what makes it exciting. You’re not just launching a brand, you’re helping to rewrite the narrative and open the door for a whole continent.”
Storytellers love selling stories
Now five years old, Spearhead Spirits started out building locally in South Africa and France, but Damola says the US has quickly become their biggest market (he tells us that their Bayab Gin sits among the top 50 gins in the US according to Nielsen).
To start with, Spearhead found partners – like importer and distributor Winebow – that had the confidence and appetite to bring newness into long-established categories.
On trade has also been successful, becoming a place to connect with advocates and build credibility with bartenders. And as a business that’s got a story to tell, says Damola, Spearhead’s brands have really thrived with accounts that value storytelling (like Disney).
“The common thread across all of this has been community. Whether it is bartenders, local retailers, or consumers, community has been a real growth engine for us. It is what we will lean on as we move into e-commerce this fall. For us, it is not just about shifting cases, it is about creating demand and advocacy that lasts.”
It’s not marketing – Spearhead Spirits really is all about place
Lots of brands like to say they’re ‘rooted’ in things: tradition, often, or values, or a commitment to something bigger. In Spearhead’s case, it’s not empty marketing speak – they are absolutely powered by Africa’s flavor-rich produce.
-Bayab Gin is made using botanicals from across the continent, and baobab fruit – which Damola says has a “bright African citrus character”. (Bayab Gin comes in a choice of appealing flavors: African classic dry, burnt orange and marula, African rose water and palm and pineapple.)
-Sango is made from wild African agave, which is “fresh, earthy and unlike anything else in the agave world”. (Agave grows wild across the continent, but Spearhead grows their Blue Webber agave in coastal South Africa).
-And Vusa Vodka is made using African sugar cane, giving it a “smooth slightly sweet finish”.
Delicious, we’ll take all three.
That clear sense of place is magnified by Spearhead’s branding
It’s not just a story told through ingredients. Spearhead’s branding is driven by what Damola calls “authentic African codes”, reinterpreted for a contemporary audience.
“It’s not the outdated imagery of Africa that people have been shown for centuries, but Africa as we know it to be,” he says.
Vibrancy is a huge part of this design language, according to him, but he emphasizes that’s not as simplistic as color. It’s bold wordmarks. It’s striking glass shapes. Its Zulu-inspired patterns etched into the bottle.
“We take that vibrancy through the touchpoints as coherently as we can. There is still a bit of chaos in places, but as we grow we are aligning and tightening everything so that wherever people experience our brands, it feels cohesive and intentional.”
Finally, as part of our regular NEWBIES rite of passage, we asked Damola:
What’s the brutal truth you’ve learned about building a bev/alc brand?
“The brutal truth is that no one cares by default. I actually learned that in my advertising days, and it is just as true, if not more so, in the drinks world. People are not sitting around waiting for your brand to show up. It is our job to make them care.”
Then we asked: with the wisdom of experience, what would you tell other bev/alc founders?
“For me resilience isn’t some abstract quality, it is a set of habits. With the team, it’s about creating momentum and celebrating small wins so people feel progress even when the big picture feels tough. It’s also about being honest when things are hard, but reframing setbacks as fuel rather than failure.
Personally, I’ve had to get comfortable with constant problem-solving. Fundraising through Covid forced that into our DNA as a business. Now we expect challenges, and we see them as part of the process rather than a derailment. That mindset shift is what hardwires resilience, it stops you from being shocked by the hurdles and helps you use them to keep moving forward.”
THE NEW RULE:
Provenance can absolutely be your brand story. People care about ingredients, they care about roots, they care about where you come from and what’s influencing you – and they want to hear you talk about that. Double down on that place. Especially if it’s not the same place as everyone else.
Really enjoyed reading this! Thanks for taking the time to put it together 🙌