SUSTAINABILITY

We live and work in Cornwall with nature all around us, from stunning undulating moors to craggy cliffs and powder white sandy beaches we love Cornwall it’s our inspiration, therefore we know we need to look after it.

We would love to say our entire operation is Carbon Neutral and completely green but unfortunately we are not there yet.

What we can say is that is that we are aware of our obligations as a business and are working hard to ensure that we make the right decisions as we move forward with the environment front of mind wherever possible.

Products

From day one we have always used local ingredients wherever and whenever possible. Even today we use herbs grown and hand-picked from our own garden which we use as some of the key botanicals for our gins. This is just as much about great flavour as it is about low food miles and is a perfect example of using nature right outside our back door.

Bottles

Glass is always seen as a very green way to package products as it is easily recyclable. The question we asked ourselves was that as a supplier of glass bottled products, could we go further and look into the options of using recycled glass in our bottles. It took a bit of number crunching as it’s not a cheap option but we were able to make the changes and since 2018 our Gin bottles have been made from 40% recycled glass. We have also managed to change manufacturer from France to a UK based glass maker to reduce production miles on the bottles travel time from manufacture to bottling. A fact we are very proud of as we are the first Gin distiller in Cornwall to achieve this and one of only a handful in the UK.

Paper Labels

It has taken time to work through the logistics as labels have important legal requirements but all of our labels are made from paper rather than being plastic based. You may think this is obvious change to make and perhaps it is, but much of the drinks industry uses plastic based labels as they have to work in quite extreme environments when in transport or in a pub or club environment. We are pleased that we are able to make a substantial decrease in our use of plastic in this area.

Packing materials

As an online and offline supplier of delicate products in glass bottles, historically we have always used a lot of cardboard and plastic packaging to protect to protect them. We have been on the lookout for ways to reduce our use of materials in this area of the business. We looked globally for solutions but became aware that the answer was just along the coast, a few miles away in the fishing village of Porthleven.

A local company had completely revolutionised the way to pack delicate products in as environmentally friendly way as possible. Called Flexi-Hex® this product was the brain child of local surfing twins Sam and Will Boex. The cardboard honeycomb structure was originally designed to pack surfboards – notoriously fragile when surfers went travelling – and traditionally took a lot of plastic products such as bubble wrap to keep safe. This concept quickly morphed into a host of other uses especially the drinks industry like ourselves who were looking for just such a plastic free solution to allow us to transport delicate glass bottles.

So not 100% green but working hard to change things when and where we can. So now if you order a product from us you will be receiving the fruits of our labour with greater recycled glass content in our bottles and reduced production miles between manufacture and bottling, 100% paper labels and packed in Flexi-Hex® for protection. Even the botanicals have probably been hand - picked by one of us… and we are still working on many more ideas like using aluminium cans for our new Curio Hard Seltzer range due to its recyclability. We will keep you up dated on our progress.