Pacific Dawn
Encyclopedia
- Pacific Dawn is also the name of a P&O Cruises liner, see Pacific Dawn (ship)
Pacific Dawn Limited is the former name of 42 BELOW Limited, a drinks manufacturing company based in downtown Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. They produce the flagship vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
42 BELOW and the gin
Gin
Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
South Gin, as well as 420 spring water (still and sparkling mineral water) and the House Quality Vodka brand Stil Vodka.
Brand information
The 42nd parallel runs through the middle of New Zealand, which happens to be where 42 Below was conceived. The water used to make the vodka comes from under an extinct volcano and gets the highest purity rating available.42 Below used to be a little stronger than most other vodkas (84 proof). It uses a process that is closest to the grain (wheat) based vodka of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. 42 Below is made from GE
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
-free wheat. The alcoholic content is now reduced to meet government tax levels, so gets a lower tax hence allows it compete with other big brands. The name is supposed to refer to the southern latitude where it is produced just north of Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
on the country's 42nd parallel and also to its 42% alcohol content.
42 Below vodka is a product which has been introduced to the USA market in 2006. It seems to be focused on the markets of New York, Los Angeles, and Austin. These test markets have seen steady growth in popularity.
42 BELOW is renowned for its unique [vodka] flavours including:
- FeijoaFeijoaAcca sellowiana, a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree in New Zealand, and can be found as a garden plant in Australia and...
- ManukaManukaManuka can refer to:*The flowering plant Leptospermum scoparium *Manuka, Canberra, an area in the Australian Capital Territory, named after the plant*Manuka Oval, a stadium in the above territory...
honeyHoneyHoney is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans... - PassionfruitPassiflora edulisPassiflora edulis is a vine species of passion flower that is native to Paraguay, Brazil and northern Argentina . Its common names include passion fruit and passionfruit...
- KiwifruitKiwifruitThe kiwifruit, often shortened to kiwi in many parts of the world, is the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia....
South Gin is flavoured with juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
berries, lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
, orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
, coriander
Coriander
Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...
seeds, angelica
Angelica
Angelica is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far North as Iceland and Lapland...
leaves, orris
Orris root
Orris root is a term used for the roots Iris germanica, Iris florentina, and Iris pallida. Once important in western herbal medicine, it is now used mainly as a fixative and base note in perfumery, as well as an ingredient in many brands of gin....
, gentian
Gentian
Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Gentian family , tribe Gentianeae and monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species, it is considered a large genus.-Habitat:...
root, and two New Zealand natives, kawakawa
Kawakawa (tree)
Kawakawa, Macropiper excelsum, is a small tree of which the subspecies M. excelsum subsp. excelsum is endemic to New Zealand; the subspecies M. excelsum subsp...
leaves and manuka
Manuka
Manuka can refer to:*The flowering plant Leptospermum scoparium *Manuka, Canberra, an area in the Australian Capital Territory, named after the plant*Manuka Oval, a stadium in the above territory...
berries, The gin received the ‘Grand Gold with Palm Leaves’ for 2005 at the Monde Selection
Monde Selection
Monde Selection, created in 1961, is an international and independent quality institute located in Brussels, that tastes and tests consumer products in order to grant them a renowned Quality Label...
in Brussels rating it as the best gin in the world.
Bacardi takeover bid
42 BELOW Limited undertook an initial public offer of shares and warrants in 2003. The shares and warrants were quoted on the NZSX market operated by New Zealand Exchange Limited (NZX).However, on 27 September 2006 42 BELOW said it had received a takeover offer from Bacardi Ltd
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
at 77 cents per share, valuing the company at NZ$138 million. Bacardi said it saw 42 BELOW as a young company with long-term growth potential.
"Bacardi plans to invest heavily in the 42 Below brand portfolio and supporting infrastructure," Bacardi's president and chief executive Andreas Gembler said in a statement. The takeover was successful and 42 BELOW Limited is now a wholly owned member of the Bacardi group.
Bacardi is adamant that manufacturing will remain in New Zealand, run by the same team to retain its distinctive Kiwi spirit. "It gives a fresh perspective to the super premium and premium vodka segments and actually comes across with a very nice Kiwi irreverence flavour that's not there in the market at the moment," says Bacardi spokesperson Atul Vora.
They also produce Seven Tiki rum and Tahiti dark rum, and bottle '420' spring water, the water used to make 42 Below vodka.