The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Estonia → Latvia → Lithuania → Poland

EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE. Wild Tiger co-pilots Gautom Menon and Paul George Vedanayagam are really roaring towards Cannes now. They’ve hit Europe and are ticking off the countries as they leave Estonia to drive through Latvia and Lithuania to Poland. In the Latvian capital Riga they met up with Retail inMotion Sales Director Retail Liisa Rugele. Liisa guided the Wild Tiger duo through her city, taking them into its stunning parks, passing by the Freedom Museum and into the city’s famous Art Deco district. “Though we spent just a few hours with Liisa we left with the feeling we met and made a great friend for life,” Gautom says, adding that he wants to thank the Wild Tigers’ friend, Joe Harvey, for facilitating the catch up.

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

Roaring into Riga: Wild Tiger adventurers Gautom Menon and Paul George Vedanayagam with Retail inMotion Sales Director Retail Liisa Rugele

Liisa says she was delighted to spend a couple of hours getting to know Gautom and Paul. “We salute Gautom and Paul for combining their business acumen with their passion for wild tigers. Their conscious decision to create awareness and raise money for Indian tigers in the duty free community is admirable.” Liisa, on behalf of all at Retail inMotion, wishes the Wild Tiger team a safe onward journey.

As well as introducing the hungry tigers to Latvian food, Liisa treated them to a hamper of goodies featuring Buy on Board products to keep them roaring for the next few days.

And, without doubt, they will be long ones as the TRiger co-pilots face seven to eight hours at the wheel every day. As Gautom points out, there will be no rest until Cannes.

Stunning parks in Riga: Captured by Wild Tiger photographer Paul George Vedanayagam

Gautom and Paul reached Vilnius, Lithuania, in the afternoon, going straight to the city hall and parking the TRiger right in front of it. Gautom says he was not sure if that was legal or not; the TRiger attracted attention but no trouble.

What a place to paws: The TRiger commands a statement-making presence in Vilnius

“The city hall square is breathtaking to say the least. We spoke to some locals who gravitated towards the TRiger with curiosity of course and one person, Egidijuis, happens to be an investor in a drinks distribution company,” Gautom reports.

“He loved the look, the story and, more importantly, the taste of Wild Tiger and we now have a first order. We are well chuffed about it.”

After a photo call in the city’s old town, he and Paul headed to their Airbnb accommodation. They managed to get a little lost and ended up asking a young man called Fred for directions. He was quick to assist and, according to Gautom, there was an instant connection; helped, of course by Fred’s love of hip-hop and tigers.

Earning his stripes: Meet Fred, Wild Tiger’s enthusiastic new supporter

“We headed to Drama Burger for dinner and it hit the spot. While chatting with him, it turns out we have a common friend, who happens to be the only other Lithuanian I know. Aras Gibieza, a Red Bull stunt biker, was in India a few years ago for a cross country show. So naturally we took a selfie and sent it to Aras who was thrilled to know about the coincidental meeting.”

As Gautom says, it’s such a small world.

Day 54 saw Gautom and Paul heading to a meeting with the Baltona Duty Free team. They were met by Marcin Kiryluk and Liquor Buyer Piotr Szyszkowski, who treated then to lunch at a local restaurant. They were joined by Tomasz Komosinski, from the liquor division, and Marta Bernadkiewicz from the company’s marketing team.

Gautom says the team members were keen to hear about the Roar Trip and, in particular, the challenges he and Paul faced.

All smiles as the Wild Tiger co-pilots catch up with the Baltona Duty Free team

“They were appreciative of our campaign and the PR it generated. We were also thrilled to learn that Marcin still uses the Tiger Claw key ring I gave him two years ago.”

Wild Tiger is not yet listed with Baltona but Gautom notes the warmth of the Wild Tigers’ reception there. “They welcomed us and made a great effort, and for this we are so grateful. This industry is truly the greatest industry with the nicest people in it.”

And the journey towards Cannes continues for the trusty TRiger…

This Roarport can’t sign off without noting an addition to the Wild Tiger team, as the dynamic duo becomes a roaring threesome with industry friend and Loch Lomond Group Managing Director Andre de Almeida joining the ride from Warsaw to Budapest.

It’s a long drive and, with Gautom describing Andre as the “Trouble Retailer”, we could be in for some interesting reports from the brave Brazilian.

And the Roar Trip continues…

##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

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