A Fife firm has signed a “significant” five-year contract with a drinks company, but has moved production to Italy after missing out on Scottish Government funding.
Giorgio Cozzolino’s business, Old Tom Gin, has agreed the lucrative deal with Fresh Del Monte UK, a leader in fresh and preserved fruit.
Mr Cozzolino said the deal was a significant boost to his business.
He added: “Del Monte is the number one in the world for pineapple. Everyone knows the brand.
“It is a great boost for us and it gives us a lot of credibility.
“A company like Del Monte is not going to partner with somebody without knowledge who just makes products from their garage.”
20 new jobs, but not for Tayside
Old Tom Gin Ltd last year created 10 jobs to manufacture golf buggies from Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) in Dundee.
The firm’s deal with Del Monte has created 20 new jobs to produce the energy drinks.
However, these jobs have been created in Italy.
Mr Cozzolino claimed he was unable to access Scottish Government funding to create the jobs in Tayside.
He applied to the Food Processing Marketing and Cooperation Grant scheme in June.
However, he said he received no response regarding his application.
“I’ve worked very hard on this – it has been a long project,” he said.
“I started to apply for the grant scheme in June, but I did not receive any support.
“We never received any comment, just that the application had been received.
“We even sent the contract with Del Monte but it appears nobody was interested.
“That meant we had to move the production to Italy and invested £7 million – with support from the EU.”
The Scottish Government did not respond to the specifics of Mr Cozzolino’s case.
However a spokesperson said; “Should any business wish to discuss their application to the Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation scheme, we would encourage them to contact us directly so their query can be explored further.”
Energy drinks to increase fruit intake
The ‘A Kick of Fruit’ energy drinks feature at least 20% of real fruit juice and have no added sugar.
They are available in flavours inspired by Del Monte’s pineapple juice.
The flavours are pineapple, mango, passion fruit and lime; blood orange spritz; pineapple, lime and mint flavour; pineapple, grapefruit and lime; lemon ginger and pomegranate raspberry.
Senior commercial director for Fresh Del Monte UK and Europe Martin Tilney said: “Our innovative energy drinks are a welcome addition to our expanding product range.
“We’re thrilled to have collaborated with Old Tom Gin.
“We anticipate our energy drinks will appeal to mindful, health-conscious consumers looking for new ways to boost their energy levels and increase their nutritional intake.”
Old Tom Gin has also developed a gin product, which led to a trademark dispute with St Andrew Links.
