A feature on the Caribbean-produced Tortuga Rum cakes, which was aired on the US-based Home Shopping Network (HSN) on January 5, resulted in the product being named one of four ‘Favourite Foods’ on the network and 1,000 orders received within the first 10 minutes of the show. HSN has a viewership of 100 million in the US and internationally.

Monique Hamaty-Simmonds, Director of Brand Development for Tortuga International Holdings, said the feature showcased the Tortuga Rum Cakes as “a decadent treat coming directly from the Caribbean and delivered to the purchaser’s doorstep”.

“The HSN fans have always been extremely receptive to our Tortuga Rum Cakes and the partnership gives us an outstanding opportunity to promote the Tortuga brand to over 100 million viewers. This is a very exciting start to the New Year and we look forward to continued success in 2016 as we add new products to our list of offerings,” she said.

HSN is a leading interactive entertainment and lifestyle retailer, offering an assortment of exclusive products and top brand names to its customers.

Last autumn Tortuga Holdings International was granted a licence by the US Government to import Tortuga’s newly packaged and rebranded 5-year-old rum and 12-year-old rum into that country, and began discussions with US liquor distributors and brokers for placement of the new-look rums in 2016.

Last year, the Tortuga 5-year-old rum won Gold from

The Spirits Business magazine.

In addition, the Tortuga Rum Cakes made their debut on the shelves of two of the USA’s largest wholesalers: Costco and Sam’s Club (a division of Wal-Mart).

Founded by Jamaicans in the Cayman Islands in 1984 as the Tortuga Rum Company, the company is now part of the Jamaica Producers Group and has bakeries and other operations in Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas.