Spotting trends is Barry Connolly's business. And, as the man behind Red Bull in Ireland, his record is there for all to see. Now he is hoping to repeat the trick with a new product, Kopparberg pear cider.

Connolly first came across Kopparberg about five or six years ago in London. At the time the Swedish brewer behind the product had tried to introduce Kopparberg pear cider into the British market but it had not worked out.

"I stayed in touch with the Kopparberg people because it was a brand I always liked," says Connolly. "But the fundamental thing with these brands is timing."

In the case of Kopparberg, the catalyst was Magners' phenomenal recent success in the UK cider market.

"When I saw the success of Magners, I revisited Kopparberg and I was fortunate enough to get distribution rights for Ireland, North and South."

He also set up a joint venture with the brand owners in Britain, which, with 60 million people, is a market that really excites Connolly.

Less than a year after his company, Richmond Marketing, took over the brand, the decision is paying dividends. The bottled pear cider is available in about 1,000 outlets throughout Ireland and, last summer, was selling about 30,000 to 35,000 cases.

In Britain, where it takes longer to get on to the shelves of pubs largely controlled by big breweries, the brand was selling just over 20,000 cases in February.

British pub chain JD Wetherspoon announced last week that it now sells more Kopparberg cider than the brand's owner sells itself in Sweden, and Connolly is convinced Kopparberg can become a "million case" brand - the benchmark of success in the premium business.

Connolly set up Richmond Marketing 15 years ago.

"With hindsight, the timing was brilliant because I had three or four years to get it organised before the Celtic Tiger kicked in."

He recalls that even the cutting-edge bars of the Dublin scene back then differed little from their more traditional suburban peers - in product terms, espresso was about the only beverage served that set them apart.

"Everything else was the same as their parents would buy in any suburban bars."

Connolly decided to travel to London, New York and further afield to see what was selling in those markets and whether they had potential for the Irish market.

"Effectively what we have done is focused exclusively on brands that you could not have given away in the 80s; if you had tried to do Volvic, Evian or Kopparberg back then, you could not have given them away. We are a classic example of a company that bought into the Celtic Tiger generation quickly . . . because, back in the early 90s, I was 30 or 31, so I was very much part of that society."

Red Bull was the making of the company. Connolly first came across it in Europe and followed the trail to Thailand, where it came from. At the time, Red Bull was a drink of choice both on après ski in Austria or the clubs of Ibiza. This coincided with the growing trend among young Irish people to travel on those sorts of holidays.

"I saw what it was doing and I came back to Europe and simply refused to give up on Red Bull until I got the distribution rights."

The first crate landed in Dublin in 1995. By late 1998, it was clear the company had a major success on its hands.

Connolly notes with pleasure that the energy drink is now so much part of modern Irish society that it received several mentions in David McWilliams's book The Pope's Children.

From early beginnings, when Connolly was involved in everything from oil to ethnic foods, the company has now streamlined into a distributor of premium beverages.

The acquisition of distribution rights to Volvic and Evian at the start of last year means it is now a significant player in the two fastest-growing areas of the drinks sector - energy drinks and water.

The acquisition of the rights to Volvic and Evian - together with the Kopparberg deal - has moved the company into the "premier league" of drinks distributors on this island, according to Connolly, a position he expects will enhance the company's prospects when other premium brands come looking for distributors.

Danaeve, the holding company for Richmond Marketing, has just filed results showing a jump in turnover to €89 million in the year to the end of last September from €77.2 million a year earlier.

Of that, the group's food and drink interests accounted for turnover of €62.6 million.

Having recently sold off its other interests, Connolly estimates that food and drink business turnover will have grown by close to a third this year - to about €81 million on the back of a full-year contribution from Kopparberg and from the water brands Volvic and Evian.

Connolly is coy on what he might do next but, with a history of involvement with start-up brands dating back to a stint with the Sunday Tribune back in the 1980s, it is clear he still gets a kick out of the brands business.

Ireland is now in the top three markets worldwide for Red Bull and Tiger Beer - another part of Richmond's portfolio. For now, Connolly is concentrating on establishing a similar foothold for Kopparberg.