‘Bringing some of that Caribbean magic to life’

By Sarah Tetteh
With the festive season fast approaching, Marc-Kwesi Farrell had just one mission when he flew back home to London for the launch of his bespoke rum brand – to get the party started.
He is certainly bringing Love and Sexy Magic to the capital, by partnering up with superstar singer Ciara to launch Ten To One Rum.
You only have to look at his history, to see Marc doesn’t do things by halves. From his crowning glory graduating from Cambridge University to launching glam rum business with music queen Ciara as the face of it – there’s just no stopping the proud Trinidadian.
With Ten To One Rum they are all about moving away from those tired old stereotypes rum has laboured under – pirates, plantations and parrots so to speak – and creating a modern authentic drink reflecting the Caribbean culture of today. Marc, the founder, quit a big job at Starbucks – he was the youngest vice presidents’s ever to set up the company and after five years and 100 awards, they are now coming to the UK.
Marc, who is a twin, celebrated with an epic launch party on Tuesday of last week at the Soho Hotel with guests including Mica Paris and Ashley Walters.
He told the South London Press: “The rum hits different. It’s there for you in the good times, it’s there for you in the not so good times.”
Marc is certainly ushering in the good times, working with his pal Ciara to bring the magic across the pond. He said: “We do have a celebrity invester co-owner Ciara. She is amazing. She joined the brand about two and a half ago. It’s great to have some of her magic in the mix as well.”
So what’s it like working with the chart-topping star and busy mum Ciara?

Marc said: “Hanging with Ciara is as chilled and real as you can get. She’s really dope, she’s really good energy. We get along great and we’re really good friends. She is super entrepreneurial. She and Russ, her husband are both (business) builders in their own right. We’ve been a great pairing on the brand.
“Ciara shares a lot of what the brand’s DNA is. Joie de vivre, spontaneity, to be able to flex up and down, do high and low, and she has real range. She has those things. She is, with her 35million followers on IG, and going on tour in summer, she’s creating that evangelism push for us with the brand. Creating that bit of magic and sexiness.”
Marc’s story is certainly inspiring in itself. He hopes to encourage South Londoners to reach for their goals too. He said: “I studied at Cambridge, I did technology policies, a public policy degree over here with my twin sister. I went to Harvard for business school, going back and forth from the US to UK for a decade.”
He launched successful businesses in e-commerce and retail, prior to launching Ten To One Rum, and creating a new narrative for it.
He said: “Where we are from in the Caribbean, rum is quite literally born out of the soil. So the opportunity in my mind was to elevate it, celebrate it, and put it on a global stage. The idea was to bring some of that Caribbean magic to life.
We want people to talk about rum in a different way. I’ve been frustrated about the way rum has been brought to the market. The notion of cliche, old school colonial stereotypes. A mentor of mine told me, ‘if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will tell it for you.’
“So I’m telling it in a more contemporary fashion. Going from the old cliche narrative, to the real majesty and magic of the culture – and the love of life. Whether you have been touched by the art, culture, music of the Caribbean, then that’s the ethos and energy we are exuberating.”
Marc offered words of inspiration to budding business owners in South London.
“Caribbean people have something exceptional to offer to the world, which goes beyond what they have been given credit for. So it’s about bringing products to life that have that heritage and DNA, but that challenge those stereotypes and break into new categories, and that’s what Ten to One is all about.”
You can buy Ten To One at www.amazon.co.uk/Ten-One-Caribbean-White-Smooth/dp/B0D964HZ75