Guadeloupian rums reign supreme over the village of Route du Rhum. But in the streets of Intra, their neighbor Martinique made them shade. A lot of shade ...
It's obvious ! As soon as the door Saint-Vincent passed, the visitor falls on a barrel of the mark Dillon on a terrace. In the busy Jacques-Cartier Street, the red and yellow Dillon flames are visible at the entrance of many restaurants.
In town, Dillon is everywhere. Except that this rum is ... Martiniquais. In the middle of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe where Guadeloupe rums Damoiseau are partners, it disturbs ...
Yet the Guadeloupean organizers of the race are watching. Every day, they roam the village and hunt for products that come from elsewhere. On the village, they have their hands. But on the outside, there is no rule about competition.
" Too bad "
So they sometimes come to tickle the traders. As at the Café de Saint-Malo where the organizers like to come for lunch at noon. They do not taste too much the punch fountain Dillon at the entrance of the terrace ...
"They make the remark every day, telling me that it's a shame, they are chauvinistic and they would prefer that I promote Guadeloupe rums. But I confess I'm not a big consumer and I followed the advice of my brewer. It annoys me, it's a shame. But now, I suffer, " admits Alicia Leclerc, head of the restaurant, who " will do differently " in four years.
His neighbors at the restaurant La Malouinière also suffered the choices of the same brewer, who works with the brand Dillon. "I recognize that it is not logical but it is beyond our control," regrets the boss. Although she does not have to, she played the game of her supplier by hanging a banner at the counter and displaying the cocktails on a map bearing the image of the brand. "It's not that we like it but it decorates. "
According to several institutions, Dillon has made a real offensive on Saint-Malo for weeks.
"With them, it's easy"
A restaurant manager, who wishes to remain anonymous, reports that the representative of Dillon came to solicit her, three times, to place her mark. "At first, I did not want because my Guadeloupean supplier of four years ago had forced my hand to order a large quantity of rum. I only finished it three months ago. "
Lack of time, cash, she initially opposed a refusal before yielding to the arguments of Dillon. "They helped me make a card with eight cocktails. What I had never had time to do. Except that the brand has affixed a small logo at the bottom of the card that encourages the owner to use Dillon products for her drinks. With the glasses that go with it. " They did not oblige me to anything but I understood that I had to buy my rum from home now," says the shopkeeper, who also let the commercial dispose of his decorations in the restaurant. "With them, it's easy. "
Not asked
That's how Dillon imposed his logo everywhere in the city. She bet on the number. Where his competitor Damoiseau has played more on the spectacular by dressing the facades of the most emblematic bars of Intra-muros (The Universe, the Belle Epoque, the Chateaubriand, the establishments of the house Hector ...). At the risk of angering all other coffee makers and leave a boulevard to the competitor.
Because if the Martinique rums are everywhere, it is also because the representatives of Damoiseau did not come to the bars. Which could annoy some.
" I work all year with Trois-Rivières rums and I am very happy with the relationship I have with their representative. This is not the case with everyone. And unlike others, my supplier is not interested in me at the time of the Route du Rhum ", plague a boss of an Intra-muros bar. Suddenly, she is happy to advertise the brand Martinique by posing sunbeds sky blue on the terrace.
Still Intra, a rum is also pretty good at Dillon rums. "As a rum, I propose several brands and I played the game by registering Guadeloupean drinks at the top of my card. But I recognize that my decor is essentially Dillon because the other representatives did not come to see me. I want to work with them but they have to come to me. "
Obviously, if Guadeloupe rums have lost the battle of rum in the city, they can only blame themselves.