Food & Drink Awards 2023 | 51 Based in London, OTC Beverages Limited is a luxurious brand that offers a tempting selection of premium non-alcoholic drinks, including traditional Ginger beer, Sorrel, and Lime Juice with butterfly pea flower. To deliver excellence in its products, the company focuses on great taste, eye-catching sustainable packaging, and simple ingredients. Here, we explore Founder, Owner, and CEO Shirley White’s journey to create OTC Beverages. Traditional Caribbean Drink Company of the Year 2023 - London where it was featured in the Band Judges and VIP area and sponsored a band. Additionally, within three months of its establishment, the company was shortlisted for an award and came third in the Best Drinks Product category with Food Matters. Later, in 2020, it was shortlisted in the Great British Food Awards as part of the Mixers and Fruit Juices category. However, established just before the Covid-19 pandemic, Shirley’s journey with OTC Beverages has not always been smooth sailing. Having started out with plenty of business, due to the pandemic, clients closed their businesses. Fortunately, the company made it to the other side of the pandemic and has gained a new clientele. In the wake of these difficult times, Shirley is more committed than ever to supporting the health and wellbeing of society through her brand of natural drinks, made from top quality ingredients and packed with vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.. As a result of its relentless commitment to excellence, OTC Beverages has been named Traditional Caribbean Drink Company of the Year, London, United Kingdom in the Food and Drink Awards 2023. In the years to come, the company plans to continue improving its ecommerce platform, New Product Development (NPD), attend more events, and begin distributing globally across the US, Caribbean, and Africa. Shirley also hopes to someday sell her products in high-end shops/restaurants like Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey Nichols, Harrods, and more. Contact Details Contact: Shirley White Company: OTC Beverages Limited Web Address: www.otcbeverages.com aving worked in the financial industry for many years, Shirley White had always dreamed of creating and owning her own premium drinks company. However, she was encouraged to turn her dream into reality when she attended her father’s 80th birthday party in 2017. There, she began pondering the fact that the generation who had created the culture, food, and beverages of her childhood were getting older and would someday pass away. This thought inspired her to preserve their legacy in some way, and so OTC Beverages was born. Today, OTC Beverages offers a selection of drinks. The ginger beer and sorrel products are reminiscent of those made by Shirley’s grandmother as well as her father and his generation. These items have minimal ingredients and yet still deliver a myriad of health benefits as well as a pleasant, refreshing taste. In the creation of these products, Shirley embarked on a journey of discovery and research, aiming to ensure that her ingredient suppliers were growing their products ethically and sustainably. Following the completion of this process in 2018, OTC Beverages went into full production in August 2019. Since then, Shirley has worked to alter her products, aiming to make them appeal to a wider audience as well as the Caribbean community. In this, she maintained the fundamental benefits of their traditional, organic, and natural ingredients and flavours, but designed a new luxurious container that is both visually appealing and fully recyclable. OTC Beverages primarily serves clients like artisan shops, corner stores, community events, pageants, movie product placements, celeb hampers, and more. The company aims to stay connected with them, seeking their valuable feedback and using their suggestions to improve. On top of this, to maintain its relevance in the industry, OTC Beverages continues to innovate by creating new flavours, always aiming to deliver quality, client-focused customer service, and good value for money. As the only fulltime employee at her small, bootstrapped company, Shirley is immensely proud of what OTC Beverages has achieved over the years. In summer of 2019, the company participated in the Notting Hill Carnival event, H
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