Winner – The Boatyard Distillery
Situated in the north-west of Ireland, The Boatyard Distillery has been going since 2016.
Operating on a farm-to-bottle basis, the distiller makes its spirit from organically-grown wheat with the botanicals in its namesake gin also certified organic.
Much of its sustainability focus is on the packaging side, where the corks are made of wood sourced from sustainably-managed forests and the labels are made by the only remaining paper mill in the UK from recycled, unvarnished paper. While the use of 60% recycled glass in the bottles may not catch the eye, there are other packaging approaches that led to the win. While 2.8-litre eco-pouches are used across the spirits range for the on-premise – “98% of the pouch’s weight is liquid as opposed to 57% of the botte” – Boatyard also runs a bottle refill programme at the distillery, whereby any empty bottle will be refilled at a discounted price.
Finally, milk jars are used on-site to stock the bar for distillery tours.
“Our distillery is based in a rural location on the water’s edge. We believe recycling is important to conserve our natural resources and protect the wildlife in our surrounding areas, helping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.”
Our judges said: “A wide spread of activity across its packaging that’s greater than the sum of their parts”.
Special Commendation – Waterford Distillery
Running Boatyard a close second was its compatriot and Ireland’s first distiller to produce an organic whiskey, Waterford Distillery. All the grain used to produce the namesake brand’s portfolio is grown in the country. “Unlike most of the industry,” the company says, “our barley is never mixed with imported barley only to be delivered as generic ‘Irish malt’ with emissions hidden away through the supply chain.
“This is the core of our ethos – traceable grain on a foundation of regenerative farming.”
Incidentally, the image above is of a box for the Waterford brand that is based on pulp containing cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The carton is fully compostable
