William Ramos: Serving it on'The Rocks' of Ja
Published:Sunday | August 25, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Krysta Anderson & Garfene Grandison, Gleaner Writers
Bacardi's senior brand master, William Ramos, was recently welcomed to Jamrock where he was conducting a few rum seminars and training sessions about his reputable brand. Honoured at a cocktail reception held at Caribbean Producers Jamaica's (CPJ) CRU Bar last week Wednesday, Outlook was honoured to sit down with experienced Ramos to talk about his journey with the established rum-and-spirits distillery.
His professional passage into rum and spirits distillery was indeed a remarkably inspiring and life-changing one. Entering the company as a tour guide, he wanted to learn about its history, "My first job as a tour guide developed the passion to find out more about the Bacardi's history and the production process. I was interested in the family, who started in Cuba, lost everything, and went through the struggles all their lives to get everything back."
He continued by pointing out: "In 1960, when the family-owned company lost $78 million, Fidel Castro took over and offered the Bacardi family $100 million back then to sell him the name and the formula. A majority of the people I know would have sold the company, but the Bacardi family got together and they decided no, they were going to fight." He continued, "It's incredible that just 18 years later, they became the number-one distilled spirit in the world, selling 21 million cases of rum. They have an amazing story."
Even as a tour guide, Ramos' thirst for knowledge grew until he began working his way up the career ladder. Progressing from a tour guide to a public relations officer, Ramos moved even further until he became a rum taster for the company. From there, he became the first Bacardi ambassador, then a brand master, before, ultimately, holding the title of senior brand master. "Since I worked closely with the person who made the rums, instead of calling me the master blender, which was already filled by José Gomez, who is the only master blender, producing 75 per cent of all the rums, they called me a brand master as his apprentice. I later became a senior brand master after training individuals to become brand masters themselves," he ended.
For a few quick minutes, Ramos explained how he became Bacardi's senior brand master, "A couple of years ago, the Bacardi family, fifth-generation family member of the company and the marketing managers, got together as they saw it as a necessity to develop a system of education designed not only for our employees, but for consumers and mixologists as well."
He noted that while people knew of the Bacardi brand, they knew very little of the brand's rich history and quality. Employees, too, he said, knew about the product but had lost faith. So they wanted to get them to understand the importance of believing in the product that they work for.
"In seeing that great desire for something innovative, we decided to develop an in-depth education course consisting of history, mixology and all aspects of production. That's basically how it grew," he said.
He attributes his success in becoming a senior brand master to being taken under the wing of the master blender of the brand, José Gomez, who has been a father figure for him. He shared, "He's my father, my hero, the most humble human being and a good man. This big company has one person in charge of this formula for the product, so that is major. What I admire about him the most is the fact that he will not compromise the quality of the product," he shared fondly.
He describes his 20-year career with the Bacardi family as a career filled with learning. What has made a tremendous impact on him the most is being given the opportunity to learn all facets of the business. "Bacardi has allowed me to develop a full package, knowledge in a little marketing, sales, production and history in representing the energy of the company. Bacardi means everything to me. It is my life, what I live for, and I couldn't see myself doing anything else," he ended admirably.
The best thing about his job, he admitted, is the people and being able to travel. "Everywhere you go, you meet upon new things. I try to look for the positive things. I am very fond of Jamaica, I have been here before and Jamaica has developed since the last time I had been here, nine years ago, in raising their personal standards and those of the industry itself. They are educating themselves a bit more now."
The challenges thus far in his job, he said, were being competitive and learning to respect the industry. But the biggest has been trying to educate the consumer to consume the product responsibly, and while sometimes the heartbreaking stories are just too much for him, he continues to grab the bull by its horn in addressing the issue by promoting education on the consumption of alcohol and responsibility in the way people drink.
Motivated by working for best spirits in the world, balancing work and family he says is pretty easy for him, "My family understands how important Bacardi is to me, so they support everything I do there. It is really about making them a part of your life and everything that you do."
In a grand fashion, Ramos left these parting words for aspiring business enthusiasts: "People may not remember what you have said, people may not remember what you did or even remember your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel."