Planteray - new name, same rum
Soon rum lovers will be looking in vain for products from Maison Ferrand, known under the brand name Plantation. From now on, the new rums will go on sale under a new name - Planteray.
Renaming of popular rum brand announced as early as 2020. At the time, the company's founder and co-owner, Alexandre Gabriel, recognized that the Plantation is too associated with the infamous tradition of slavery, which flourished in the past on plantations of all kinds, including in Latin America on sugarcane plantations. The immediate impetus for the name change was the death of George Floyd, an African-American who lost his life in Minneapolis during a police arrest, an event that triggered a wave of protests against racism and riots over it.
According to official statements from both the founder and the company's branding staff, rum producers Plantation they do not want the joy of tasting their products to be in any way disturbed by feelings of discomfort associated with colonial associations. The company owns the West Indies distillery, located in Barbados, where some of the brand's rums are made Plantation/Planteray. As the company's employees say, they want everyone associated in any way with the brand to be treated with respect and dignity.
As it turns out, the rebranding of such a powerful brand has taken longer than the two years originally planned, but as of January 2024, all products will carry the new name - the Planteray. It originated as a compound of two words - "plant" and "ray." The former refers to the plant that is the basis of rum production, sugar cane. The second is a reference to the rays of the sun, with which rum is very often associated. Well, and which, naturally, are necessary for sugarcane to grow and mature.
As the manufacturer assures, the rum offered remains the same, and the only thing that changes is the brand name. Even the graphic design has been kept almost unchanged to avoid possible brand identity problems.
As the rums bearing the brand name labels Plantation are present in markets in 120 countries, the switch to the new name will take some time, and certainly no one is planning to withdraw the rums Plantation already found in wholesalers and stores around the world.
The first product bearing the rebranded name is Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut Rum, beverage made at West Indies Rum Distillery, infused with local coconuts. This edition is the result of four years of experimentation, and was selected from 97 recipes. Beverage with a strength of 40% vol. will be presented for the first time outside the Caribbean. However, it will not be immediately available in all markets where the brand is present. According to the manufacturer, it takes one coconut to produce one liter of Planteray Cut & Dry rum. It took the company as long as two years to raise enough coconuts to offer the new rum in the British, American, French and Caribbean markets.
The new rum will be offered at a retail price of $35 US per bottle.
The current offerings of the House of Whisky Online include a wide selection of Plantation brand rums, which, from now on, along with new deliveries, will be replaced on the Planteray. We invite you to visit.
[10.01.2024 / graphic: Maison Ferrand]