On the one hand, there are bartenders using paper straws, dehydrated citrus wheel garnishes and recycled cardboard drink coasters in order to be more sustainable on-premise. On the other, some spirits producers have been embracing lower-carbon practices such as using solar power, recycling heat and reducing water use.
But, in between the distillery and the bar, producers ship fancy, heavy glass bottles of their spirits all over the world. Those bottles are used a single time and then discarded or put into the recycling bin to be crushed up and reprocessed.
Having a custom bottle is an important part of marketing for spirits brands, especially when those bottles are sold in the off-premise channel. In a busy nightclub, though, where bartenders are slinging hundreds of Vodka-Red Bulls every night, most consumers never see the bottle, and yet they still end up in the bin at the end of the night.
In other bars, cocktails are fully or partially batched to speed up service. Again, the designer bottles are often not even visible to the consumer.
In between the producers and the bartenders, one company claims to have found a niche in which to make a big move in sustainability. Ecospirits evolved out of a bar group in Singapore but has since gone global.
The company receives spirits in bulk containers at their facilities, fills them into their custom-made, reusable totes and then a distributor brings them to on-premise accounts. The distributor also picks up empties for refill back at the ‘Ecoplant’. There’s no single-use glass in the process and none in the bin at the end of the night.
The spirits are not bottled at their source but shipped in bulk plastic totes to one of Ecospirits’ ‘Ecoplants’. In most countries in which the company operates, the ‘Ecototes’ hold 4.5 litres. In the US, due to legal bottle sizes, they are 1.75 litres. The totes are refillable glass bottles [as preferred by manufacturers] inside a protective casing that also makes them stackable.
When those totes are empty, they are returned to the distributor and sent back to the facility to be sterilised and refilled. The totes themselves are fitted with monitors and tracking that helps with traceability, accountability and inventory. They also have pour spouts that dispense in specific volumes. They can be kept either out of site in the stock room or made into conversation pieces with bar placements.
While some wine and spirits producers have attempted bottle refill initiatives around the US, these all rely on consumers or bars individually returning those bottles to the production facilities for refill or exchange. These systems are somewhat limited in their geographical reach, though, as well as in the range of products that can be refilled into any particular bottle.
Ecospirits works with many different brands from ones owned by multinationals, such as Pernod Ricard’s Beefeater Gin, Havana Club Rum and Absolut Vodka – indeed, Pernod Ricard acquired a minority share in Ecospirits earlier this year – to smaller brands including Avallen Calvados, Compass Box Whisky and Roots Marlborough Gin. To be available in a particular market, a brand’s owner must agree to make the product available for distribution in this system and ship their liquid in bulk to the ‘Ecoplant’. Ecospirits then partners with a local distributor that takes orders and delivers totes to accounts, as well as picks up the empties.
Not every type of spirit is a fit for this system at the moment. Single malt Scotch whiskies and 100% agave tequilas, for example, must be bottled in their home countries, so they can’t be shipped in bulk and bottled in market.
Another complexity is that the refill facilities are best located near shipping ports to receive the bulk liquids. Therefore, most tote distribution is limited to venues that are within driving range of the coastal refill plants, rather than throughout the entire country. In the US, the first two Ecoplants are in Los Angeles [the distribution region includes Orange County and San Diego], and Miami. It might be a while before they get to Chicago, but it could happen; Ecospirits has plans to bring additional ‘Ecoplants’ online in the country later this year.
Obviously, not every single spirit and liqueur from every part of the world is suitable. Those with already-established bar presence make the most sense as they’re reached for the most often, and don’t sit on back-bar shelves as displays. Just think of how many Aviations you’d have to serve each week to make a 1.75-litre tote of creme de violette worthwhile!
Thinking about specific cocktails and their ingredients is a company specialism. For example, the Raffles in Singapore serves up to 1,200 Singapore Slings to tourists each day, so Ecospirits worked to ensure that all of the alcoholic ingredients in the serve were available in ‘Ecototes’. These include Widges London Dry Gin, Luxardo Sangue Morlacco Cherry Liqueur and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. According to the company, in its first year of 2018, it was able to save tens of thousands of glass bottles just for this one serve at this one bar.
The company has its eyes on a few other famous serves too. Zdenek Kastanek, MD for Ecospirits USA, named the Irish Coffee at The Buena Vista in San Francisco and the Miami Vice at the Fontainebleau Miami as being on his wish list.
Spirits brands available in the system can vary by country, and Ecospirits frequently issues announcements about new brands signing up for the system. Diageo and Remy Cointreau brands are available in different markets. For the US, brands that have already signed up include Tried & True Vodka, Los Arcos Destilado de Agave, La Travesia Mezcal, Widges Gin, Mackintosh Whisky and Candela Rum.
Sustainability initiatives are needed at the bar and at spirits manufacturing sites, and Ecospirits has found an innovative sweet spot to make a further positive impact between the two.
This article was initially published by The Alcohol Professor, a US-based online “homeroom” that covers beer, cocktails, spirits and wine along with travel tips, book reviews, bar reviews, recipes and videos.
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