South African-born tomato drinks brand Marty's is entering the ready-to-drink alcohol market with the launch of its locally produced Classic Bloody Mary...with a twist.
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The new product will launch nationally through Pick n Pay Liquor in September 2026, marking a new chapter for the independently owned family business that began with a homemade tomato juice operation in a garage.
For Marty's founders and siblings Martin and Paula Raubenheimer, however, adding vodka has been a long time coming.
From a garage to international shelves
Marty's began almost a decade ago when Martin Raubenheimer started making tomato juice in his parents' garage, using an apple hopper, a borrowed wine press and plenty of determination.
The idea stemmed from a simple observation. As a child, Martin would order tomato juice while other children chose soft drinks, only to notice how often people immediately added Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and other ingredients to improve the flavour.
“I never thought tomato juice was bad,” says Martin. “I just always thought it could be so much better.”
That idea eventually became Marty's, which has since grown from a small South African operation into a brand stocked in thousands of stores. The business has also expanded into the UK, Namibia and the UAE.
Along the way, the brand has picked up recognition including a Great Taste Award, Double Gold at the Aurora International Taste Challenge, Silver at the World Alcohol-Free Awards and a Nourish Award.
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A new route into the RTD market
The Classic Bloody Mary represents Marty's move into the growing ready-to-drink category, building on the brand's existing Virgin Bloody Mary.
While the concept had been under consideration for years, developing a commercially viable version took longer than expected.
The first iteration was developed by Paula Raubenheimer in the UK, using the Virgin Bloody Mary as a base. Development then moved between the UK, Europe and South Africa before South African bartender Kurt Schlechter of Cause Effect Cocktail Kitchen was brought in to help fine-tune the final product.
The challenge, says Martin, was to create a proper cocktail rather than simply adding alcohol to tomato juice.
“We wanted it to taste like a really good Bloody Mary, not tomato juice with a load of booze thrown into it,” he says. “The tomato still needed to shine.”
Building on the Marty's flavour proposition
Like the rest of the Marty's range, the Classic Bloody Mary is made without preservatives and includes ingredients such as apple cider vinegar and Oryx Desert Salt.
The drink has been positioned as lighter and less thick than traditional tomato juices, while retaining the savoury and spicy flavour profile for which the brand has become known.
The move also gives Marty's an opportunity to take its established tomato-based proposition into a new consumption occasion, targeting consumers looking for a convenient, ready-made cocktail experience.
Pick n Pay partnership brings the journey full circle
The national launch through Pick n Pay Liquor has particular significance for the founders.
Before Marty's had established a national retail footprint, Pick n Pay was among the first retailers Martin approached. At the time, the partnership did not materialise.
Several years later, after expanding internationally and building the brand across multiple markets, Marty's is returning to the South African retailer with an entirely new category proposition.
“It’s funny. We had to go halfway around the world before finally ending up back on shelves at home,” says Martin.
“There’s no real precedent for this category in South Africa, so we think it’s incredibly cool that the Pick n Pay Liquor team has been brave enough to launch it with us.”
A new chapter for a homegrown drinks brand
For Marty's, the launch signals more than the addition of another product to its portfolio. It represents an expansion from non-alcoholic tomato drinks into the ready-to-drink cocktail market, while building on a flavour profile the company has spent years developing.
The journey from a garage-based tomato juice experiment to an international brand and now a nationally distributed RTD cocktail also highlights the increasingly diverse routes available to South African food and beverage brands looking to build locally before expanding into new markets and categories.
Marty's Classic Bloody Mary launches at Pick n Pay Liquor stores nationwide in September 2026.
