The Moodie Davitt Roarport The Moodie Davitt Report is providing exclusive daily coverage of Wild Tiger’s Roar Trip, one of travel retail’s boldest CSR initiatives, via our special line extension, The Moodie Davitt Roarport. Via phone and social media, we’ll be with Gautom Menon and Paul George Vedanayagam on every stretch of their epic 65-day road trip from Kerala to Cannes and be there to greet them on the French Riviera when they arrive on the eve of the TFWA World Exhibition. We are unlikely to be alone. More news on that coming soon. Duty free retailers: If you’d like to meet Gautom and Paul along the way (see their destination course below) let us know at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com. |
EUROPE. The tigerishly tenacious twosome are soon to be uncaged. In less than 48 hours they will arrive in the French Roarviera, having completed their epic 65-day Roar trip from Kerala to Cannes.
Days 60 and 61 were spent in the Netherlands roared on by the trusty TRiger, a Tata Hexa (How do we know the model of the car, you ask? Sorry, but a journalist never reveals his Tata source) following a ten-hour drive from Munich to Amsterdam.
Wild Tiger 1 Gautom Menon takes up the story: “Our first stop in sin city to the surprise of many was to the most famous South Indian vegetarian restaurant Sarvana Bhavan.
“It was the first time in weeks that we had South India filter coffee and Dosa [this story just gets batter and batter -Ed]. After having our first bite, it was only then we realised how much we actually missed our home food.
“Paul and I have a penchant for trying and experimenting all cuisines. It had been a conscious effort to not have more than a few Indian meals during the trip – until now just three in nine weeks.
“We also took a stroll to Dam Square (the most important and best-known plaza in Amsterdam) around midnight just to feel the energy of the city.” Just as likely the city felt the energy of the Wild Tiger tandem tour de force.
Next stop was Rotterdam. Tourist website Holland.com says, “Rotterdam is a city of many faces: a tough port city, a trendy nightlife city, a sophisticated shopping city, and a hip artistic city. Above all, Rotterdam is the architecture city of Holland that stimulates innovation. Its skyline is always changing. There are many things to do amid Rotterdam’s skyscrapers. You can go on a shopping spree, enjoy some excellent food, and visit a range of museums and attractions in and around the city centre.”
Their appetite whetted, Gautom and Paul’s first stop was Style Labels.
Style Labels is de naam van ons sterk groeiende internationale kindermodebedrijf, opgericht in 2017 door Monique van der Staay. Oh, you want us to speak English? Ok then… Style Labels is the name of a rapidly growing international children’s fashion company, founded in 2017 by Monique van der Staay.
Monique is also a good friend of Gautom. Her predominantly children’s fashion lines are produced by another of Gautom’s friends, Krishna Kumar (whom the Wild Tiger team had surprised at Oktoberfest in Munich) in both men’s home city of Coimbatore, some 7,842 kilometres as the crow flies, not that one ever has. “As a result, Monique is a regular visitor to our city and we often all end up at our office for a glass of rum in the evening,” says Gautom.
Monique’s team of 20 were keen to understand more about The Roar Trip journey and with much pleasure Gautom and Paul took them through a by now well-rehearsed presentation. “They had many questions and were thoroughly regaled hearing our experiences,” says Gautom. “They promised to consider introducing more wild cat prints and to support animal conservation as these new designs come to life.”
You might even see them in travel retail – Monique is keen to introduce her distinctive brand in the channel and may exhibit at future events.
From Rotterdam it was off to Dordrecht, the country’s oldest city, crammed with monuments and museums, old warehouses and busy merchant streets that underline a wealthy trading history. Population 118,167… sorry 118,169 and a TRiger – it is also home to well-known travel retail wholesaler and distributor B&S. The pair of human tigers were given a warm welcome by Manager Business Unit Peter De Jong and Senior Purchase Manager Virgil van der Valk.
Peter commented: “We support the initiative undertaken by the Wild Tiger team as they are making this world a safer place for tigers in the wild. We hope to see them in Cannes and wish them all the best on behalf of our organisation.”
After the B&S team gave the Roar Trip roadsters the now ceremonial ‘flag off’, it was on to the offices of travel retail wholesaler and distributor Pentrade Duty Free, where Gautom and Paul were met by popular industry friends Philip Reidel, Danny Nossent, Joost Nobel and several other team members.
“Philip took us on a personal one-hour tour of their offices and warehouses,” says Gautom. “Members and warehouse workers were in great spirits and we felt positivity was spread all around the premises.
Next stop was the Gandhi Cultural Centre in The Hague where a large group of Indian nationals had congregated to hear the Wild Tiger story. “I was also pleasantly surprised by the attendance of my friend Veena Damodaran who studied with me throughout my years at Stanes school, Coimbatore,” says Gautom. “We were catching up after nearly 17-18 years. She now lives in The Hague and is in the teaching profession.”
He continues: “Our time in the Netherlands would be incomplete without meeting the lovely Laura Klingeman of Seva Group. She treated the Roar crew to the most amazing Indonesian cuisine. I can confidently say that thanks to this industry, she is a great friend I have made for life. She was first introduced to me by Denz Vanderlist (ex-Cabeau). It’s a shame he wasn’t in town to join us and neither was Melvin Broekaart of Air Commerce.
“We are truly thankful to these industry friends for making the time to catch up with us. We all know the madness associated with this week leading up to TFWA Cannes. I hope to see them and other friends at the Roar-veria’ party* for a Wild Tiger Rum cocktail or two on Saturday evening in Cannes.
The Roar Trip continues… (but not for much longer)
*Footnote: A special Roar Trip welcome has been arranged for the Wild Tiger team in Cannes on the evening of Saturday 28 September from 7pm. Attendance is strictly limited and subject to invitation. If you would like to welcome Gautom and Paul to the French Roar-viera in style, please email Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com
##RoarTrip, #Roarforourtigers, #KeralatoCannes, #WildTigerFoundation #TigerConservation
HOW TO SUPPORT THE WILD TIGER ROARTRIP
Via the official website – www.roartrip.in
Or:
Account Name: Roar Trip WTF
Account No: 6766903189
Bank Name: Indian Bank
Branch: Sivananda Colony Branch, Coimbatore – 641 012,
Tamil Nadu, India
IFS Code : IDIB000S075 /SWIFT: IDIBINBBCBE
Please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to consider doing so.
En route to Cannes, the daring duo will be meeting up with other travel retailers. Those wishing to ‘meet and greet’ them are encouraged to make contact. Yes, Gautom will be checking his email: gautom@wildtiger.in
Click to enlarge
EARLIER ON THE WILD TIGER ROARTRIP…
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: And the Cannes countdown begins…
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Estonia → Latvia → Lithuania → Poland
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Farewell Russia, hello Estonia
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Red Square, Regstaer – a Wild Tiger loose in Moscow
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: India → Myanmar → Thailand → Laos → China → Krygyzstan → Kazakhstan
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Stranded at the border but captivated by the view
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Goodbye China, hello Kyrgyzstan as epic journey passes halfway
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Mountains, deserts and the Great Wall of China
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Landslides, Hotpot and Terracotta Warriors
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: New frontiers for The Roar Crew
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: A tiger gets loose in Laos
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 13-15: Turning on the (King) Power in Bangkok
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 12: Crossing the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Bridge
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 9-11: “For their tomorrow, we gave our today”
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 7 & 8: The Tigers Who Came to Tea
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 5 & 6: Wild Tigers become Bengal Tigers
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 4 & 5: The team earn their stripes but not a tiger in sight
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 3: High times in Hyderabad
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 2: Wild Tiger roars into Dufry Bengaluru
#RoarTrip, #Roarforourtigers, #KeralatoCannes, #WildTigerFoundation #TigerConservation
ABOUT WILD TIGER RUM: Kerala-based Wild Tiger is India’s first rum to be produced from a blend of molasses and cane spirit. The rum’s velvet tiger print stripe packaging reflects the fact that no two tigers share the same stripe pattern – so the stripe design of the sleeve has been designed and cut to ensure that no two bottles are alike.Wild Tiger made its Indian travel retail debut in February 2016 and is now available in 53 countries.
ABOUT WILD TIGER FOUNDATION (WTF): Wild Tiger Foundation is a CSR initiative by Wild Tiger Rum, which contributes 10% of its profits to the cause. It is a registered non-profit organisation headquartered in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India that focuses on the conservation of the tiger and its habitat by raising funds and creating awareness. It was founded in 2015 by drinks entrepreneur Gautom Menon and Coimbatore-based businessman Suprej Venkat.
The primary focus is the conservation of tigers and their habitats within the state of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, specifically Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. Wild Tiger Foundation acts as an influencer and an enabler.India had around 100,000 tigers in the mid-19th century. Today it has around 2,200, underlining the urgency of the conservation cause.
