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St. Gría cocktail producers expand distribution to 65 new locations islandwide

Two years since officially making its local debut, cocktail producer St. Gría confirmed the expansion of its distribution to 65 new locations throughout the island, including the Stuffed Avocado restaurant, Freshmart, Supermax, The House, some Econo supermarkets, Selectos in Aguadilla and Guaynabo, and others.

As their distribution grew, they moved to a new — and bigger — location that the company officially opened March 11 in the Tres Monjitas Industrial Park where the local business now has a St. Gría Bar and tastings on Fridays from 4 pm to 10 pm and Saturdays from 1 pm to 9 pm. Opening the 2,000 square-foot location entailed a $25,000 investment.

Since launching in March 2020 — at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — St. Gría has come a long way with its three unique cocktail flavors that changed names from: “Pitahaya y Playa,” “Mango y Miel,” and “Acerola y Cha Cha Cha” to “Sparkling Wine Sangria,” “Whiskey Sangría,” and “Vodka Ginger Sangria,” respectively, said Sachira Rodriguez, who along with her husband Jovan Latorre, co-owns St. Gría.

The line now also includes a new seasonal flavor that contains avocado and tequila, which is a recurrent drink in restaurants like Stuffed Avocado and can be found for tasting at the St. Gría Bar on some occasions.

“Throughout the process of that first year and halfway into the second, we dedicated ourselves to getting to know our market by going directly to them, seeing in which area they bought more from us, if it was more women or men who made purchases from us, their ages and even their interests,” she said.

She explained the pandemic was declared just as they were launching, but St. Gría “adapted easily” to what the market searched for quickly and succeeded through their delivery methods and online sales through the St. Gría website.

In May 2021, the couple started knocking on market doors with the fear that it would get hard to get clients as their product needed to be refrigerated because of the lack of preservatives.

After getting their first client, Freshmart, they gained the “confidence” to continue their expansion for selling points to enter and up until now, they continue to add two or three more clients on a weekly basis, she said.

St. Gría hopes to continue to expand its product line, possibly host events and live music at their St. Gría Bar, and share their “lively colors,” which they will announced on social media, she said.

“When I started, I knew the focus that I wanted the brand to have, with those bright colors and that as women we should celebrate ourselves, no matter how big or small the achievement, you should celebrate yourself,” said Rodriguez.

She pointed out that while wanting the concept to be what it currently is, the entrepreneur gave credit to Latorre who handled manufacturing while she focused on running the business.

Author Details
Author Details
Yamilet Aponte-Claudio was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She graduated from Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Providencia and is currently a junior at Sacred Heart University. Majoring in Journalism and adding a minor in sustainable development and foreign languages, she aspires to study law after obtaining her bachelor’s degree.
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