After prolonged contemplation and feedback from consumers, the name of Maison Ferrand’s Plantation Rum is finally getting a makeover. First hinted at in June 2020, the brand is switching to Planteray Rum. Owner of Maison Ferrand, Alexandre Gabriel, declared the change at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. The first merchandise to sport the new moniker will be Cut & Dry Coconut Rum, and others will follow as current bottle stocks diminish.
At the press briefing, Gabriel stated that the new name “pays tribute to sugarcane, the PLANT which is the origin of rum, and the RAYs of the sun vital for the growth and maturity of sugarcane.”
Whether these claims are convincing is disputable but the new name feels somewhat clumsy and is likely going to be confused with “planetary” among other things. It is however clear the objective was to find a name not too dissimilar to “Plantation,” eliminating the negative and racially charged implications tied to it. The name Plantation Rum had been the subject of criticism for years and gained wider exposure during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in summer 2020. Until then, brand reps defended the name by saying “plantation” meant “farm” in French. But the tone shifted in late June 2020, with the company releasing a statement acknowledging the historical relation between the term plantation and the slave trade: “As the dialogue on racial equality continues globally, we understand the hurtful connotation the word plantation can evoke to some people, particularly in its association with much graver images and dark truths of the past.”
This marked the beginning of Maison Ferrand (which also owns Citadelle Gin and Ferrand Cognac) searching for a new brand name, a process stretched over years and led to further backlash from campaigners criticizing the company’s slow-paced approach towards the change. Gabriel countered this by attributing the delays to challenges posed by international business and trademark laws. In a 2022 interview, he referred to it as a “daunting and lengthy process”, mentioning the final name needs to be one that is usable in over 100 countries where the company markets its products.
Planteray Rum might initially strike as an unusual name. Nevertheless, this new name might not immediately appear on the familiar U.S. Plantation Rum brand as the company has a significant stock of custom glass imprinted with the name “Plantation.” Over time, the name ‘Planteray’ will be prominently displayed on all the company’s products, without any changes to the remaining label. We can only hope that ‘Planteray’ doesn’t inadvertently result in being inappropriate in any other way.
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and a domestic liquor enthusiast. You can follow him on Twitter for more beverage writing.
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