Finery Cocktails founder Jane Allan knows her target audience. Her product, just three years young, was created to fill a gap in the beverage market and to fulfil a need of her own – an all-natural pre-mixed cocktail that tastes great and has a beautiful aesthetic.

“I was going through a bit of a health journey,” explains Jane, an Auckland-based mum of two. “I had dived into raw, clean eating and couldn’t find anything that ticked the boxes for what I wanted in a refreshing cocktail.”

Jane was thick in a career as a Commercial Project Manager, but she found herself thinking more and more about creating a beverage of her own.

Her vision was this: a sugar-free, carb-free, gluten-free pre-mixed drink with interesting flavour combinations, but with a familiar taste with mass appeal (interestingly, many of her flavour profiles have been generated from breaking down a popular cocktail, then rebuilding it with a clean approach and putting her twist on it). 

With no previous experience in beverage, Jane reached out to people in the industry and step-by-step – including a few setbacks – her vision started to gain traction. “I knew what flavours I wanted to create, but the drinks had to be sans preservatives and sweeteners, as well as vegan – a tricky task when the most readily available alcohol in New Zealand is made with an animal by-product.”  After many months of testing, three flavour combinations were settled upon. Now, for a name…

‘Finery’ is a fashion term for elegant clothing and embellishments; and I wanted our drink and its packaging to be delicate, clean, and lovely. So, Finery is
a great fit.”

Jane and OnFire Design (her husband Sam's business) developed the home-compostable packaging to be able to be re-sealed. The four-pack box is inspired by candle packaging, and because glass isn’t easily recycled in Aotearoa, slim-line cans were selected. 

Finery was launched in 2019, just as lockdown was announced. Even amongst a pandemic they successfully challenged the perception of premixed alcoholic drink, and consumers sipped up the “better for you” beverage. More recently, Finery has been the first-to-market Kiwi brand to produce 0% RTDs in the same range of thirst-quenching flavours as their alcoholic offering. The considered blends of fruits, teas and botanicals create a unique taste sensation are certainly hitting the spot, both here and internationally.

In late 2022, Jane was announced winner of New Zealand’s Rise Up competition – an initiative from business growth ecosystem, Soda, who encourage and support globally ambitious female founders. “It was really unexpected,” Jane says of the win. “We had to dive deep into all facets of our business and present our product, our audience, our growth plan and our unique value proposition, to a high-profile panel.”

This acknowledgement has further motivated the Finery team, who have big plans for more launches in the short-term and for the long-haul. Their branding may be pastel, but the future certainly looks bright.