A DYNAMIC brother and sister duo from Dorset has taken the drinks market by storm with the phenomenal growth of their chilled creation, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee.

Founders Jim and Suzie Cregan launched in Selfridges two years ago and after success with a range of retailers, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee has been given the go-ahead with supermarket giant Tesco.

The entrepreneurial pair has made a big impact by travelling round the UK handing out iced coffee cartons in the country’s biggest portable cool box, aptly named the ‘Truck of Destiny’.

Jim, 32, said: “It definitely creates a big buzz. Once a double decker bus lined up next to us and started furiously beeping the horn. “We thought they were telling us to get out of the way and then the driver leaned out and yelled: ‘Give me one of those iced coffees’. We will always remember that hilarious moment.”

For the last two years, the Christchurch-based team has predominantly focused on retailers and now has an impressive distribution and listings with Waitrose, Ocado, Welcome Break stations, WHSmith and a number of delis and cafes.

Already stocked in 800 stores across the country, the deal with Tesco will boost this by an extra 500 to reach 1,300 stores. Suzie said: “We always knew it was a great idea, but we never thought we would grow this quickly because so many small start-ups fail now. We’ve been told that when we sit next to Starbucks products on the shelf we consistently out-sell them.”

After spending a year travelling and surfing around Australia, Jimmy became besotted with Aussie iced coffee brand Farmers Union. When he returned to Dorset, he missed his favourite beverage so much that he decided to create his own range.

Jim said: “I absolutely fell in love with it and was worried I wouldn’t be able to find something similar when I came back to England.”

He then enlisted the help of his older sister and cafe owner Suzie, 35, to take part in the mission to bring quality iced coffee to the UK. The team focuses on branding, packaging and ingredients and have launched three main variations so far: original, skinny and decaffeinated. They ensure the coffee is ethically sourced, the milk is from British dairy cows and the packaging is adorned with cheerful messages such as keep your chin up.

Jim said: “Keep your chin up is at the heart of everything we do. We are an optimistic bunch and it also has a double meaning because you actually have to keep your chin up whilst drinking it.”

Determined to make it on their own, Jim and Suzie gave up the chance to pitch their product to the experts on Dragon’s Den.

Suzie said: “We got through the auditions, but decided not to go for it, because we knew we wanted to do it on our own.”