GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Gin and food lovers seeking to elevate their repertoire of culinary experiences turned out in numbers this past weekend to the inaugural Stanbic Bank Fitch & Leedes Gin Festival, hosted at the Game City Rooftop. Stanbic Bank, in association with Fitch and Leedes and Liquid Library surpassed all expectations by curating a balance between sublime food offerings, good music and copious selections of 15 local and international
gins in one location.“The Gin Festival was born from the undeniable growing appetite for gin that we observe around the world, with gin being the fastest growing spirit in the world right now. Boutique and artisan craft gin distillers are at the forefront of that growth, each trying to innovate with different colours,
bold flavours and stories. We saw that there’s a huge world of expertise, craftsmanship and appreciation out there and we decided to bring that beverage wonderland to Botswana, for the first ever Gin Festival,” said Stanbic Bank Head of Marketing, Stephanie Stoneham. Stoneham went on to add that “Craft” is the new craze at the moment with the growing popularity of craft foods, coffees, beers and the latest to join the party being gin. Embracing the trend, they saw it fit to celebrate this great beverage and all its pairings, as well as offer patrons a well rounded education on gin. She also revealed that the festival served as a platform for executives to network over a shared interest.Various handpicked boutique gins from
South Africa like Wixworth, Triple Three, Six Dogs Gin and Botswana’s very own Tragelaphus gin (inspired by the Kgalagadi) showcased their superior craftsmanship over the weekend. “It was great to see a lot of Batswana across different age groups come out to the event. A lot of them came to our stall having heard about our gin and intrigued to try
it out. We provided tasters for close to 250 people and managed to generate a couple of promising retail and distribution leads,” said Boikanyo Mothibatsela, owner of local gin, Tragelaphus.