Today, I’m taking a step out of the kitchen and usual restaurant service to chat with Imme Ermgassen, one of the co-founders of Botivo.
Imme invited me into her home for the interview - her dining room table is beautifully busy with children’s toys, high chairs, and now my recording equipment. She begins to tell me about her career trajectory, including a casual mention that her twins are around the same age as her company. I lounge back with some coffee. She was hired by her co-founder after directly emailing him a PowerPoint presentation informing him exactly how she’d make his product even better - this woman is pretty damn impressive.
Botivo, the non-alcoholic, botanical aperitif was created by Sam Paget Steavenson (the founder of Rumrunner) when crafting cocktail menus for parties of the rich and famous like Ellie Goulding and the royal family. Together, Sam and Imme have created a product which features on menus all around the London restaurant scene: from Brat (where I work), Padella and Maison Francois. Imme is the brains behind the “big brand energy” shift which Botivo has adopted aiming to become a global brand; she is in charge of investment, strategy, brand, marketing and sales.
How all-encompassing do you imagine it can be being a founder? Disclaimer: you must give yourself over to an external dream. The ultimate challenge is how to crack a new market; Botivo does not advertise itself as a sober, non-alcoholic product. The company doesn’t push out dry January marketing campaigns, they even suggest that Botivo pairs well with booze like tequila. It is simply a delicious product and that’s that - used with or without booze. You can’t say “it’s a non-alcoholic version of gin/vokda” because it doesn’t exist to replicate something else.
Join me for a discussion with Imme, one of Hospitality’s Women of the Year 2025 (CODE Awards).
I’m Stella and I’m gonna take you out for a drink.
Mentions:
- Imme Ermgassen, co-founder of Botivo
- Sam Paget Steavenson, co-founder of Botivo and Rumrunner
- Martha Jenson, Bold Beans Company