We love the natural world and environment and have a top focus on sustainability. The distillery was built as a grain to bottle producer with sustainability and local buying at the forefront of our mind.
At the distillery there are a number of factors we look at measuring in order to minimise our sustainability factor:
- Water
- Energy
- Raw materials
- Waste
- Use of plastic
- Logistics
Water
We use mains water at the distillery for most tasks but have recently started to catch rain water from our distillery roof. We can use rain water in our process as it is naturally low in salt and minerals and also to top up our chilled water system. We estimate the use of rain water will reduce our water usage by 25% in 2024.
We use a 100% reusable closed loop chilled water system for our cooling water. This is a lot more water efficient than evaporative coolers it rarely needs additional top up water.
Energy
Heat in our distillery is created using a natural gas fired steam generator. We do not use electrical heating for our stills or brewing which is less efficient than steam for large scale applications. Steam generators are also inherently more efficient than your typical steam boiler and we estimate we are using 15% less energy and some 90% of our water is reused before being sent to drain.
We reuse energy harvested from the brewing process by using wort transfer to heat cold water for the next brews. Through this process we estimate we save several hundred thousand litres of water annually.
Local sourcing
Raw materials are sourced from as local or as close to us as possible. This means less transit from producer to our distillery. Our largest raw materials are glass, grain and cardboard. We buy each of these from UK manufacturers and all within England, close to our London home. We do this at a higher cost than buying abroad in the interests of sustainability and also supporting our local economy.
Our major raw materials are sourced form as nearby to London as we can. Our largest raw material is grain which is sourced as locally as possible in Norfolk (about 150 miles away). We use local water for our processes and also buy other raw materials for English suppliers.
Glass is purchased in England and we use recycled glass where possible.
Logistics
As a grain to bottle producer our process has naturally had one less logistical movement than others that buy in their base alcohol from further afield. We also claim that having control over our entire process allows us to accurately measure our impacts versus contact manufactured brands where energy and inputs are unknowns or based on information relied on from third parties.
We operate warehouses in London, near our distillery and use local logistics services to
deliver into our customer network.
Recuce Waste
By reducing the waste output of each bottle distilled, we believe that sustainable success is achieved by steadily using the same, repeatable best practices over time. We have a target to reduce our waste by 20% in 2024.
Plastic to Zero
We minimize the use of plastic packaging in our business. Our goal is that by the end of 2025 we will have zero plastic use within our packaging and logistics.
Our commitment
We are committed to continual improvement and are budgeting to reduce our sustainability factor by as much as 25% in 2024. Our ongoing commitment to sustainability will only increase as we grow.