Best rum in South Africa

Lebogang Mooka, the founder of Mooka Rum explains why she entered the London Spirits Competition and the positive impact it has had on her business.

Mooka Rum was launched in August 2022, manufactured and produced by one of South African’s best distilleries called Earthbound Distillery. I initially wanted to do gin, however after doing some research I identified that there was a gap in the market for rum.

Mooka Rum has seen so much growth after winning a silver medal at the London Spirits Competition in 2023 and was the highest scoring rum from South Africa.

I was made aware of the London Spirits Competition by one of my mentors (Johan Pistorius) who sadly passed away last year.

Johan had gained much experience in the industry and had won a silver medal at the London Spirits Competition in 2022 for his gin.

I entered the competition to make sure that Mooka Rum can be tried, tasted and approved by experts globally. As a new brand in the market I wanted to build credibility with my clients to ensure that they understand the level of quality I am selling to them

I also wanted to build a network with experienced and passionate spirits lovers throughout the world. I wanted to provide an opportunity to clients and businesses globally with the knowledge and understanding on spirits and to expose them to the London Spirits Competition and how they can identify quality spirits.

Mooka Rum is now being identified as the best rum in South Africa. I have now managed to get the brand to sell in various retailers in South Africa, I have received requests from events companies around South Africa who wanted to partner with me in their events and I have also started getting media attention in South Africa.

I have been doing interviews on Mooka Rum’s journey and also had an amazing opportunity to meet with the CEO of London Spirits Competition, Sid Patel, via Zoom; I was featured on the London Spirits Competition’s LinkedIn page and on included on their website.

My opinion of the London Spirits Competition is: amazing, informative, professional and they continue to share business support through their social media page. Best of the best!!!

This year I would like to increase awareness in the UK. I had few people who visited South Africa last year and after tasting Mooka Rum they requested that I distribute it in the UK. I am currently looking for reputable retailers across UK who can sell Mooka Rum in their stores, restaurants, bars and hotels.

To help reinforce the success we had, I bought the LSC stickers for Mooka Rum bottles, Instagram advertising, South African’s media and In-Store Tasting marketing on retail stores.