Lucky Nxumalo

Kenny Kunene, centre, is also known as the Sushi King.

Notorious for eating sushi off half-naked women, blowing millions on lavish parties and starring in his own reality TV show, Kenny Kunene wants to take it to the next level next year – by launching his very own vodka brand.

But before he does that, he’s got to get through his massive New Year’s Eve party tonight.

The 41-year-old intends to party up a storm at his own nightclub, ZAR in Sandton, with a host of other celebrities.

“We going to have a variety of entertainment and only the best as always,” said Kunene.

“Last year we threw a massive party, probably one of the best in Joburg. Going into 2012, we will have an even better party.”

Besides the all night entertainment and imported booze flowing like water, Kunene is also hosting a fireworks display outside the club – and everyone’s invited.

“All you have to do is book a table and pay an entrance fee,” he said.

Kunene would not reveal the names of celebrities that would be joining him at his club in Sandton.

“There will be plenty of them, but they wouldn’t appreciate me telling the media where they are,” he said.

What he’s most excited about though, is his plan to launch his very own vodka brand next year.

Kunene and his business partner and former jail cell mate Gayton McKenzie met up with two of Ukraine’s biggest Vodka distributors last month looking for the right vodka to import as their own brand.

“Everyone knows that the world’s best vodka is made in Ukraine and Russia and we only want the very best for our brand,” said Kunene.

“We tried several different vodkas and were impressed with what the companies had proposed.”

Kunene will launch his very own vodka brand as well as import an existing Russian brand of vodka. He said he had been planning this venture for over a year now with McKenzie.

“We have always wanted to have our very own alcohol brand. We are in the nightclub business and we are always looking to maximise our potential and this is a great idea,” he said.

Kunene would not reveal which Ukrainian vodka distributors he had approached.

“The two companies that we had gone and visited sell vodka to most of the world. All the top countries are supplied by them.”

And although he says it will be a costly venture, he promises that his vodka brand would be reasonably priced.

“It will be around the same price as vodkas such as Smirnoff and so on. It won’t be ridiculously priced so that no one will be able to afford it,” he said.

“I think the bulk of our money will go into marketing the vodka.”

And after vodka, clothing and perfume are next on the social entrepreneur’s shopping list.

He said he and McKenzie had opted for vodka as it was the healthier option compared to other spirits.

“Also it is the in drink right now and is most popular amongst those who drink and go to nightclubs.”

South Africa, he said, also lacked a quality Ukrainian vodka.

“None of the high end vodka in South Africa comes from Ukraine or Russia. All the Russian vodkas we have in South Africa are the really cheap vodkas, so we thought it would be a good idea to bring in a top quality vodka,” said Kunene.

He won’t reveal what the brand will be called either.

“We have a few ideas in mind but we are keeping it a secret for now. It definitely won’t be called ZAR as we will want all clubs to sell our vodka,” he added. - Sameer Naik