TRI-POD Series 6: From ground zero to zero.zero (0.0) with Drink Dry’s Erika Doyle : Moodie Davitt Report

**Erika Doyle: An extraordinary journey so far. Next stop, “global domination” of the burgeoning zero-alcohol drinks category.**

The latest edition of TRI-POD, The Moodie Davitt Report’s video podcast in association with The SEVA Group, features Erika Doyle, the Dubai-based Founder & CEO of Drink Dry, a company, specialised in premium 0.0% beverages, which has grown to be an outstanding success in a few short years.

Co-hosts Roger Jackson (Managing Director and Co-owner of Organico Travel Retail alongside The SEVA Group) and Martin Moodie discover not only the Drink Dry story but that of Erika herself.

It is an enthralling narrative, detailing a remarkable life journey from her native Lithuania to the UK, to meeting and marrying a renowned figure in the travel retail community. More of that in a moment.

Erika talks about the seminal (and now highly topical) influences she experienced as a teenager in Lithuania, commenting: “As a youngster I went through really big topics. We had a referendum about joining NATO, so we all knew what NATO was and what it meant for our country.

“Then we were going through conversations and referendums about joining the European Union in 2004, and that was huge for us. My parents, who were then in their 30s and 40s, actively engaged in these conversations. So, when we joined the European Union in 2004, I went and spent the summer in the UK, in London.

“It just felt like a drug that I couldn’t get enough of, from the fashion, to food, to people, to freedom. People had pink hair, people were of different nationalities and spoke different languages. I’d never met anyone from outside my city.”

Later Erika studied history and politics at the University of Nottingham before honouring a pledge to her father to work for her country when she became Executive Assistant to the Ambassador at the Embassy of Lithuania to the United Kingdom, Republic of Portugal and the Sultanate of Oman.

It was a fateful move, one that soon introduced her to Patrick Doyle, Founder & Owner of what is now the world’s largest supplier of duty-free goods to embassies worldwide, International Diplomatic Supplies.

The rest, as they say, is history. And very much her story, one that ultimately lead to the creation of Drink Dry in February 2020.

It’s a fascinating conversation that underlines the impressive growth of the no-alcohol drinks category in Dubai (very largely driven by Drink Dry) and the wider Middle East. But that’s not enough for Erika. Take a listen to TRI-POD to hear how she is now seeking “global domination” of the sector.

As always, we conclude our episode by flying Erika away to our resident desert island on our emphatically low-cost carrier TRI-POD Airlines.

There she tells us what creature comforts and company she would most enjoy. What music would Erika listen to as she whiles away the time? Let’s just say her choice of singer is flying higher and certainly much swifter than TRI-POD Airlines. ✈