Over a year ago, we announced the launch of Jun, a Lebanese homegrown gin brand. Today, the young distillery is proving itself as a successful venture. It started exporting its talent and flavor beyond the borders of its country.

We spoke to Maya Khattar, owner, and ‘cheerful communicator’ as she describes herself, to shed light on this ambitious entrepreneur’s upcoming plans.

We asked her, ‘Why did you start exporting the Lebanese gin Jun to the USA, and what is your competitive advantage there?’ 

She said: “We got a call from an middle-eastern spirits importer from DC, interested in Jun to be sold and served in the USA market, targeting specifically Lebanese and Middle Eastern places. Expats usually love to have a product from their hometown, it makes them proud, nostalgic and patriotic.”

Even though empowered by this ‘nostalgia’, the American market remains a difficult and different one. Challenges were expected. According to Khattar, the market is huge, and requires logistics of a bigger scale. After sales services are very important to drive the product forth, to remain competitive, and to create demand, as she explained. 

“Operations so far have been very good. Smooth, despite all the government rules here and there. We are on our third re-order since August 2019,” she added. For the time being, they are expanding across the US market with a slight focus on NYC and DC Washington, as well as Florida, and Texas. 

Khattar is also working on making a strong foothold in the market, in addition to start exporting her vodka and arak products. “We definitely are focused this year on the export, and working on some new markets in Europe and the Middle East,” she added.