Why was Manatii founded?

It’s September 2019 and Hurricane Dorian has just devastated the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama in The Bahamas. Emma, myself and our family have close ties to the area and were distraught to witness the destruction and damage done to the infrastructure and livelihood of the locals.

*Dorian Facts*

Our family began fundraising straight away to raise money for those in need and we managed to raise an incredible sum of money from asking friends and family. Our little sister also organised a “24 hour Dance-A-Thon” at her school!

However, we still wanted to do more and my girlfriend, Joss, suggested a charitable rum. At this point, I spoke to my sister Emma who agreed that it was a fabulous idea and we became a team of two.

After some research of the rum market, we realised that the majority of rums available to buy were blazoned with barrels, pirates, sea monsters and just a lot of brown… Ultimately, they all looked the same and we knew it was a theme that we didn’t want to follow. We wanted a rum that would:

1. Help Caribbean communities affected by natural disasters, and
2. Bring vibrance and colour to the rum market.

We had our ethos but we had no name (who knew coming up with one would be so hard?!), no IT expertise and generally no idea on where to start! It’s common knowledge that you should never go into business with family or friends, and of course, I did both. I spoke to Peter and CJ who both agreed to come on board in the following capacities:

Peter, my cousin, is Head of Marketing,

CJ, my friend, is Head of Technology.

We didn’t stop there. We used friends, friends of friends and family friends to bring Manatii to life. But more of that next time. For now, don’t be a fool, please drink Manatii responsibly.

Love Tom X