THERE are not many people who can say they have gone to the ends of the earth to get a business off the ground, but the thought has certainly crossed Tim Warrillow’s mind.

In 2008, in a bleak, desolate landscape and with a sub-machine gun aimed at his head, the young entrepreneur and co-founder of drinks company Fever-Tree, passed through a road block in the Democratic Republic of Congo on his way to a plantation near the Rwandan border.

His goal was to broker a new deal to acquire tonnes of the best quinine in the world – a vital ingredient for his brand of premium tonics.

The dangerous trip was a necessity, because although he and his partner Charles Rolls had been using this particular quinine source since launching the company in 2005, they found themselves needing a lot more of it, as Fever-Tree was going global.

"The only other brand I recognised in the Congo was DHL," said Mr Warrillow, "That’s what our first package of quinine arrived in – a beaten DHL box. The country is almost inhospitable, everything has been abandoned as people have fled the country, but this plantation is thriving.

"The fact that this plantation is still going is a testament to the importance of quinine. Even the warlords know how important is. Not only is it an effective deterrent to malaria but it’s the most important ingredient for tonic.

"We feel that for premium spirits to be complemented, they need premium tonics and for premium tonics you need high-quality quinine, and that’s found in the Congo. It was certainly quite an experience."

The pair joined forces a few years ago after having a vigorous discussion over the state of composition mixers for spirits. They were united in their feeling that the existing mixers on the market were overusing sweeteners and ruining the taste of the spirit in the process.

The pair teamed up and spent 18 months researching the best ingredients and testing recipes until they were ready to launch the company with their first tonic.

Prior to Fever-Tree, Mr Rolls was appointed managing director at Plymouth Gin, which at the time was floundering.

In a few short years he completely turned around the company’s fortunes and helped the G&T, a British staple for hundreds of years, enjoy somewhat of a resurgence. With his contacts and a quality product behind them, Fever-Tree took off.

Mr Warrillow, a Putney resident, said: "It really took some time to get the recipe right but when it was ready we went to all the spirits companies and best restaurants and bars in London saying our tonic was better than the alternative and enhanced the spirit.

"They tended to agree with us and soon enough we had big establishments such as Nobu and The Ritz stocking Fever-Tree. The bartending world is really growing in its influence and its quality, people are becoming educated and are buying better brands. It was a great accolade that all these places were taking our product.

"When you’re putting together a business plan you prepare for success, but everything took off quicker than we expected."

In the first year they bottled 500,000 bottles of tonic and bitter lemon.

Over the past 12 months they bottled 40 million, now with added flavours including lemonade and ginger ale, which many critics claim is the best in the world.

Using the same rigorous sourcing techniques, they began importing ginger from the Ivory Coast and lemon extract from Sicily, all the while running the operation from their head office in King’s Road.

However, their international operation was brought forward after artist and Fever-Tree fan Richard Hamilton alerted his friend and esteemed Spanish chef, Ferran Adria, to the tonic.

The head chef of El Bulli, one of the most famous restaurants in the world, was so taken by it that he made a granita dish using the mixer.

"The growth is really accelerating," said Mr Warrillow, "and that’s encouraging. We now deal with 35 different countries and the Sunday Times has called us the fastest growing food and drink company in the country.

"We stock to Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose but we feel like we’re only scratching the surface. There’s no reason why we can’t become a well-known household brand if it keeps going the way it’s going."

The pair’s efforts were further vindicated when the company was named Export Champion of the Year at the Growing Business Awards last month.