New 70cl Bottle Of Y-Gin Original Is Released
Our popular gin just got bigger. Now available in 70cl bottles from our distillery and website for just £30, make our Y-Gin last longer on your shelf with your favourite gin-infused cocktail. Y-Gin delivers complexity and balance to create the perfect London Dry Gin. The initial flavours of juniper, cardamon and earthy-sweet liquorice lead into Yorkshire rhubarb's floral tartness before the pleasant warm finish of ginger tingles the palate.
Our popular London Dry Gin just got bigger. Now sold in 70cl bottles from our distillery shop and website for just £30, enjoy our Y-Gin for longer in your favourite gin-infused cocktail.
Y-Gin delivers complexity and balance to create the perfect London Dry Gin. The initial flavours of juniper, cardamon and earthy-sweet liquorice lead into Yorkshire rhubarb's floral tartness before the pleasant warm finish of ginger tingles the palate.
Want this product delivered straight to your door? Our Y-Gin Original 70cl is now available to buy at the EFD online shop here.
Y-Gin Original 70cl
Antonia Doncila joins as Sustainability Manager at Ellers Farm Distillery
Join us in extending a warm welcome to Antonia Doncila, our brand new Sustainability Manager here at Ellers Farm Distillery. We asked her a few questions to find out about her new role in the business.
Join us in extending a warm welcome to Antonia Doncila, our brand new Sustainability Manager here at Ellers Farm Distillery.
With our commitment to being carbon neutral from day one and a certified B Corp®️, we asked Antonia some questions about her new role at Ellers Farm.
🌿 Tell us a little bit about you? 🌿
I completed a PhD in Chemical Oceanography at the University of Edinburgh exploring the nutrient cycling in the Arctic Ocean, in the context of climate change. From 2021 I worked as a Sustainability Specialist in the chemical industry, utilising techniques such as Life Cycle Assessment to measure the environmental and social impacts of operations, products and services. In my free time I am a keen amateur photographer (wildlife mainly; peak of my career was when I won the Royal Society Photography Competition for the Behaviour Category with my polar bear photo titled ‘Respiro’), I love reading (proud member of the York book club), diving and generally spending time in nature.
🌿 What excites you the most about joining Ellers Farm Distillery? 🌿
What truly excites me about Ellers Farm Distillery is the chance to be at the forefront of shaping a growing business.
I see an incredible opportunity to establish the right processes and knowledge base, positioning the company as a leader in the circular economy, challenging the status quo and debunking the myth that profit must come at the expense of the environment.
What adds another layer of excitement is the prospect of educating consumers. I believe in presenting sustainable choices that don't require drastic lifestyle changes; demonstrating that sustainability should be seamlessly integrated into our lives, not an unattainable ideal.
Ellers Farm Distillery provides that unique platform where I can contribute to both business growth and positive societal impact. I'm ready to take on the challenge and be a part of this transformative journey.
🌿 What does it mean to be a Sustainability Manager? 🌿
Being a sustainability manager is both a remarkable opportunity to drive positive societal change and a significant responsibility given there’s little room for mistakes. The goal is to craft solutions that not only address sustainability challenges but also enhance business resilience in the face of global issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.
This multifaceted role demands not only passion and enthusiasm but also a sharp focus on data analysis. Sustainability is quantifiable and inherently data-driven. Navigating this complex subject requires the ability to distil intricate information into clear, strategic messages. The challenge lies in ensuring buy-in and engagement from diverse stakeholder groups, each with unique perspectives and priorities. It's about striking a delicate balance between passion and precision, transforming sustainability from an abstract concept into tangible, actionable strategies.
How we measure and carbon offset The Bairn
We measure and offset the carbon emissions for every product we make here at Ellers Farm Distillery, including our New Make Spirit range, The Bairn. We asked the team here at the distillery to vote for their favourite offsetting project and the winning project actually supports two fantastic initiatives.
The first is a clean cookstove project in Maharashtra, India which improves human health and reduces wood consumption. In the villages of Maharashtra, 85% of households still rely on traditional cookstoves. This cooking method requires lots of wood and causes high exposure to smoke indoors, which poses a health risk especially to women and children. The aim of this project is to facilitate cleaner cooking practices and improve health by providing improved cookstoves to indigenous households and families living below the poverty level in the area. The portable cookstoves are made of cast iron and require less firewood, reduce indoor air pollution and CO2 emissions. Thousands of households are provided with an improved cookstove through the project activities. A decreasing demand for firewood helps to minimise deforestation and has a positive impact on the biodiversity in the area.
Clean cookstove project in Maharashtra, India.
The second initiative supports Plastic Bank’s efforts in international ocean protection by removing 10kg of plastic from coastal regions for every tonne of CO2 saved through the clean cookstoves project. Plastic Bank empowers ethical recycling communities in vulnerable coastal areas. Community members exchange plastic at local collection branches for life-improving benefits, such as health and life insurance, meal vouchers, and secure income. The communities work to intercept plastic before it enters the sea. Marine ecosystems are sensitive to pollution and play an important role in minimising the impacts of climate change because Oceans store a quarter of the CO2 from the atmosphere and 93% of the heat caused by the greenhouse effect. Warming, overfishing and pollutants like the 12 million tonnes of annual plastic waste endanger this balancing function.
Ocean protection initiative by Plastic Bank.
Year In Review: 2023
As we bid farewell to 2023, we’re taking a moment to reflect on a year marked by milestones, growth and exciting developments. Here's a look back at the highlights that shaped our journey in 2023.
As we bid farewell to 2023, we’re taking a moment to reflect on a year marked by milestones, growth and exciting developments.
It’s been a pleasure to share so many memorable moments with you all this past year. As the holiday season approaches, we wanted to express our gratitude for your unwavering support so far as we get ready to embark on the next exciting chapter of our distillery after the New Year!
Here's a look back at the highlights that shaped our journey in 2023:
1. Ricky Gervais joins as the new co-owner of Ellers Farm Distillery
We were pleased to announce a major investment by and partnership with Ricky Gervais back in November 2023. The deal with Gervais sees him become a co-owner of Ellers Farm Distillery, taking creative leadership in building global brand awareness and marketing efforts for the company’s leading brand, Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, but also covers our gins, liqueurs and English single malt whisky.
2. Became a certified B Corp®️ distillery
Our distillery achieved certified B Corp®️ status in September 2023, underscoring our commitment to environmental and social responsibility. This huge milestone in the distillery’s history reinforces our dedication to sustainable and ethical business practices. Our vision is to produce the world's best spirits in the most sustainable way, including taking the initiative as a business to offset our carbon emissions with partners like Ecologi and ClimatePartner. As signatories to The Climate Pledge, we’ve committed to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2040 at the latest.
3. Major UK supermarket listings for Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka
We reached new heights by securing major listings for our Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka in leading UK supermarkets, including Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. This accomplishment not only expands our reach but also recognises the quality and craftsmanship of our products.
4. Apple trees planted in our orchard
Our commitment to sustainable sourcing took root as we planted 361 apple trees in our orchard behind the distillery over the course of two days earlier in the year. The entire Ellers Farm team worked under the supervision of three tree-planting experts and with the help of 18 volunteers from Portakabin. We look forward to the day we can use the British apples in our spirits once the trees have grown, as well as our orchard becoming a haven for wildlife in the area by supporting a huge variety of insects, birds and mammals for the years to come.
5. Exciting product launches
2023 saw Ellers Farm Distillery introduce an array of new products, including our Cognac Cask-Aged Sloe Gin, York City FC Y-Gin, Pineapple & Grapefruit Liqueur and premium Evolution Collection. These innovations showcase our dedication to crafting diverse and exceptional spirits to cater to the evolving tastes of our customers.
6. New team hires
Welcoming new talent to our team has been a key focus this year as we start to scale our operations. The addition of fresh faces has infused new energy and expertise into Ellers Farm Distillery across different departments, contributing to our ambitious plans for future success in both the UK and international markets.
7. Sold out our Founders Release Cask Investment Programme
The Founders Release Cask Investment Programme, as part of our unique whisky collaboration with the renowned Theakston Brewery of Masham, North Yorkshire, completed in December 2023. Thirty eight, 200 litre whisky casks were released as part of our programme, priced at £8,000 each. Our distillery believes this to be one of, if not the highest average sale price of any first cask release programme in the UK.
8. Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka scores big as back-of-shirt sponsor for York City Football Club
In a thrilling moment for Ellers Farm Distillery, Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka proudly took centre stage as the official back-of-shirt sponsor for York City Football Club in September 2023. This exciting collaboration seamlessly displays the elegance of Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka's logo on the players' shirts for the 2023/24 season. More than a sponsorship, this venture symbolises a shared commitment to excellence, teamwork and local community engagement.
So let’s raise a glass! Wishing our incredible customers, community and partners a happy holidays, we’ll see you all in 2024!
The Ellers Farm team
Our Top 5 Cocktails for Christmas
Whether you are sitting cosy at home, meeting with friends or attending a Christmas party, the festive season just wouldn’t be complete without a tipple or two. And this is the time of year to celebrate with something we know a thing or two about at Ellers Farm: cocktails.
Whether you are sitting cosy at home, meeting with friends or attending a Christmas party, the festive season just wouldn’t be complete without a tipple or two. And this is the time of year to celebrate with something we know a thing or two about at Ellers Farm: cocktails.
Our passionate team have created a wide array of cocktails for the occasion that we can’t wait for you to try. Below are our top 5 Christmas cocktails, featuring products from our range:
1. Cranberry & Cinnamon Sour
Get into the festive spirit with our delightful Cranberry & Cinnamon Sour cocktail. This Christmas-inspired libation features Y-Gin, lemon juice, cranberry juice and a touch of cinnamon syrup, all shaken to perfection. Garnished with a dusting of cinnamon powder and plump cranberries pegged to the side of the glass, it's the ultimate holiday sipper.
Cranberry & Cinnamon Sour cocktail
2. Black Forest Martini
Capture the spirit of Christmas with our exquisite Black Forest Martini cocktail. This holiday season, savour the enchanting blend of Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, Cherry Liqueur, Espresso Liqueur, Martini Rosso and a dash of chocolate bitters. This delightful concoction is expertly served in a Nick and Nora glass, garnished with a maraschino cherry resting at the glass's base and a cherry elegantly pinned to the side. Raise your glass to a festive and flavourful Christmas celebration.
Black Forest Martini cocktail
3. After Eight Martini
Step into the magic of Christmas with our After Eight Martini cocktail. This sophisticated blend of Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, Espresso Liqueur, Cacao Blanc Liqueur and a touch of white crème de menthe is expertly crafted for the holiday season. Served in a Nick and Nora glass and adorned with a mint leaf and an After Eight mint, it's the ultimate festive libation to elevate your celebrations.
After Eight Martini cocktail
4. Yuletide Cherry Cosmo
Raise your glass to the holiday spirit with our Yuletide Cherry Cosmo cocktail. This Christmas-themed delight combines Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, zesty lime juice, cranberry infusion, Cherry Liqueur and a dash of Falernum syrup. Expertly shaken and elegantly presented in a coupe glass, it's garnished with a flamed orange peel and cranberries for a touch of festive flair. Cheers to a merry and memorable Christmas celebration.
Yuletide Cherry Cosmo cocktail
5. Festive White Dutch
Get into the holiday spirit with our Festive White Dutch cocktail. This Christmas, indulge in the perfect blend of Espresso Liqueur, Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, fresh cream, gingerbread syrup and a touch of mincemeat. Served over ice in a rocks glass and garnished with a toasted marshmallow, it's the ultimate yuletide delight.
Festive White Dutch cocktail
For more drink ideas, please visit our Cocktail Recipes page on the Ellers Farm website.
Introducing… Cognac Cask-Aged Sloe Gin
We are incredibly excited to announce the release of our brand new Cognac Cask-Aged Sloe Gin at Ellers Farm Distillery. Limited to just 1,000 bottles, this small batch product has been a labour of love for our Master Distiller over the past six months.. so why not cosy up next to a fire with this treat?
We are incredibly excited to announce the release of our brand new Cognac Cask-Aged Sloe Gin at Ellers Farm Distillery. Limited to just 1,000 bottles, this small batch product has been a labour of love for our Master Distiller over the past six months.. so why not cosy up next to a fire with this treat?
Whole sloe berries are macerated for 6 months in our secret gin recipe before adding layers of complexity and flavour with over 6 months in a cognac cask. Deep natural colour with a jammy sweetness gives way to complex flavours of piney juniper, eucalyptus cardamom and warming ginger, finishing with luscious notes of plums, apricots, raisins and a moreish acidic tang.
Our Cognac Cask-Aged Sloe Gin is now available to buy at the EFD online shop here.
Our record-breaking Founders Release cask programme Is Now Sold Out
We are happy to announce the completion of our record-breaking 'Founders Release' cask programme. Thirty eight, 200 litre whisky casks were released as part of the programme, priced at £8,000 each. Our distillery believes this to be one of, if not the highest average sale price of any first cask release programme in the UK.
Our English single malt whisky has been created in a unique collaboration with the renowned Theakston Brewery of Masham, North Yorkshire. Drawing on the esteemed brewer’s nearly 200 years of brewing heritage, this new English single malt has been crafted to boast maximum flavour from the start, being born from a flavourful drinkable beer, as opposed to a more traditional rudimentary whisky wash.
The Founders Release is currently ageing in first-fill Bourbon barrels. It promises to be an exquisite carbon-neutral New World whisky, created in the heart of North Yorkshire. The unaged New Make Spirit has already taken gold at this year’s Global World Whisky Masters.
“We’re doing something truly innovative and it’s great to see so many people interested in that story and support us as a new whisky distillery by purchasing casks through our Founders Release programme. We are on a journey to show the real possibilities of English whisky and we can’t wait to raise a glass with each of our Founders Release owners.” - Chris Fraser, Founder at Ellers Farm Distillery
For anyone that missed out on the Founders Release programme, a limited-edition run of only 500 sets of our Evolution Collection are now available on the Ellers Farm website - learn more here. The collection features our New Make spirit - ‘The Bairn’ – 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, to showcase every stage of its flavour evolution, culminating late in 2025 with 1 of 1,000 individually numbered bottles of our First Release English single malt whisky.
Ricky Gervais Announced As New Co-Owner Of Ellers Farm Distillery
We are pleased to announce a major investment by and partnership with Ricky Gervais. The deal with Gervais sees him become co-owner of Ellers Farm and initially focuses on the company’s leading brand, Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, but also covers our gins, liqueurs and English single malt whisky.
Gervais has been looking for an opportunity to partner with a sustainable and ethical spirits business and agreed to become a major part of Dutch Barn after learning about the ethos and workings of the company. And, of course, testing the product.
Gervais said, “I’d been looking to invest in eco-friendly businesses for a while and as soon as I found Dutch Barn – I wanted in! I love the planet and I love a drink so it was the perfect combination. On a serious note Dutch Barn really is a quality product. I love the fact that it’s done differently and I can’t wait to let everyone know about it. The exciting part for me is that I’ve been promised that I can try to make it a global brand in my own way. Something I can’t help but think they will regret.”
Ellers Farm was formed in 2021 and has been Carbon Neutral from Day One. Gervais’ investment follows on from us becoming a certified B Corp® in September of this year.
Chris Fraser, Founder and Chairman of Ellers Farm Distillery said “We are so excited to have Ricky join the team. With so many hollow celebrity cash-for-face brand endorsement deals out there, we are really pleased to have forged an authentic partnership with Ricky involving both investment and creative leadership. Ricky will be an integral part of the business going forward and will help shape how Dutch Barn is seen around the world and helping us make Dutch Barn a global success.”
Learn more about our exciting new partnership with Ricky Gervais by watching the announcement video below.
We have an orchard!
When I first joined Ellers Farm Distillery back in the summer of 2021, one of the things I was most excited about was the chance to plant an orchard. In addition to being something I’d never done before, I was also thrilled to create something that would have a positive impact on the environment. My enthusiasm, however, did not match my ability. I haven’t had much of a chance to hone my horticultural skills, spending the last decade or so working in offices and living in a city centre flat. The only plants I have much experience with are the houseplants I’ve managed to keep alive. I’m grateful that the team trusted that I would do the research and get the right people involved to make our orchard dreams into a reality.
I began learning as much as possible about apples and orchards. I relied heavily on Common Ground’s Community Orchards Handbook, Sue Clifford and Angela King’s The Apple Source Book and Raymond Blanc’s The Lost Orchard as starting points. In addition to the practicalities of planting, caring for and harvesting apple trees, I wanted to know about the history of apples, their cultural significance and their many culinary uses. I knew I couldn’t limit my research to print alone, so I visited two community orchards here in Yorkshire: The Reeth Community Orchard in Swaledale and the Pickering Road Community Orchard in Hull. The volunteers at both community orchards were incredibly welcoming and graciously shared as much knowledge as they could in the time I had with them.
The three books on apples and orchards I found the most useful for research.
I chose to focus my research on community orchards as they tend to be managed in the way of traditional orchards, with plenty of canopy cover and a carpet of grassland or meadow underneath. Commercial orchards generally pack in as many spindly trees as possible in order to maximise fruit yield. While we want a decent harvest, we also want to create plenty of opportunity for nature to thrive. We’ve commissioned several ecological surveys over the last year so we’ll be able to measure the changes to the land and its inhabitants over time. The best orchards are older and have plenty of mature trees with lots knobbly wood. Even dead and rotting wood has its place as a refuge for insects and small mammals and food for fungi, so I expect we’ll see lots of change for the better in the years to come.
In addition to creating a space for nature, we also wanted to honour the long history of apple cultivation right here on the British Isles. The first apples were brought to the UK along the Silk Road well over 1,000 years ago by the Romans. The Romans would have first encountered apples in the part of the world known today as Syria. Those apples likely grew from seeds dispersed by animals who travelled from the apple forests in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan, the birthplace of all apples. Because the Syrian apples grew from pips (apple seeds), none of the trees growing in that region would have been exactly the same as the trees growing in the Tian Shan mountain range. That’s because every pip in any given apple contains genetic material from the parent tree and other apple trees (via their pollen). So while the fruits grown from pips will have some of the traits of the parent tree, they’ll also share traits with the pollenating tree.
This might lead you, blog-reader, to wonder how supermarket shelves everywhere could have hundreds of the same type apple across thousands of stores. Let’s take the Bramley apple for example. In the UK, we have a lot of Bramley apple trees. In fact, you probably know someone who has a Bramley apple tree in their back garden. According to bramleyapples.co.uk, we eat 350 million Bramley apples in the UK each year. Each and every Bramley apple tree that exists is a clone of the original tree that was grown from a pip in Nottinghamshire garden in 1809. The word “clone” is likely to conjure up futuristic science-fiction laboratories, but cloning apple trees is less like Dolly the Sheep and more like a fruity Frankenstein’s monster. To clone an apple tree, a cutting (also known as a scion) is taken from it and grafted onto the roots of another tree. These roots, also known as rootstock, will determine the ultimate height, spread and vigorousness of the tree’s growth.
A one-year old maiden apple tree. The top brownish stem is the apple tree and the bottom paler stem is the rootstock. The graft is visible above the white label.
There are many more varieties of apples than just the Bramley. In the UK alone, over 2,600 different varieties of apple have been cultivated. Some of these varieties were found growing as one of nature’s happy accidents after an apple pip took root. Others were painstakingly selected through experimenting by cross-pollinating known varieties, in the hopes of combining the best traits of each variety to produce extraordinary fruit.
We’ve managed to incorporate 29 different varieties into our own orchard here at Ellers Farm, with 12 varieties originating in Yorkshire. Our oldest variety, and possibly the one with the cutest name, is Pig’s Snout, which dates back to 1600. We also have some rare Yorkshire varieties like the Acklam Russet, Charlestown Pippin, Flower of the Town, and the Hornsea Herring. Some apples, like Scrumptious or Strawberry Pippin, create a sense of what you’d expect to taste when biting into them. Others have names that allude to a grand origin story, such as Forty Shillings, Howgate Wonder or Nancy Jackson. And sometimes it’s the story behind the apple that really captures the imagination – like Yarlington Mill, found growing wild as a seedling from a discarded pip in the wall of a watermill in Yarlington, Somerset around 1910. How many people must have walked by as this enterprising young apple tree decided to grow from a wall? And who was the first person to try the fruit and think “we should have more of these”?
A bunch of our one-year-old apple trees, ready to be planted.
We sourced all of these apples, and many more, from RV Roger in Pickering. It was important for us to support a local nursery and only plant UK-sourced and grown trees. According to The Woodland Trust, buying trees that have never been overseas is one of the simplest and most effective ways of protecting trees from new pests and diseases. Almost all of the native tree species in the UK have been affected by an introduced pest or disease in the last 30 years. Furthermore, the UK Plant Health Risk Register indicates that there are a further 127 high risk pests and diseases that would have a high impact if introduced. We knew that when the first delivery of trees arrived on the 21st of March, we weren’t putting any of the established trees or woodland surrounding the farm at risk.
Over the course of two days, under the supervision of three tree-planting experts and with the help of 18 volunteers from Portakabin, we managed to get 361 trees safely into the field behind the distillery. Planting trees takes a lot of hard work, so I was certainly grateful to everyone for all their effort. I did significantly less heavy-lifting over the two days, but I did have the task of keeping track of which trees ended up in which holes and I’m happy to say that we have a detailed record.
This photo shows me laying out trees and recording their placement for our records while volunteers do the hard work of getting the trees in the ground just behind me.
Our 29 different apple tree varieties are made up of a mixture of cooking, eating and cider apples – the main criteria was that we get plenty of juice from the varieties chosen. They’ll begin to fruit in the next two years, but we don’t expect to get a large harvest until year five. While the trees are still immature and growing, we’ll trim back the fruiting buds so the plants can direct energy to root production. Having strong, healthy root systems will set the trees up for longer and healthier lives, and set us up for more Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka!
A golden-hour selfie in the freshly planted orchard.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the kind people at Pickering Road Community Orchard and Reeth Community Orchard for their insights on all things orchards. Some of the best resources I’ve used to bolster my knowledge of apples and orcharding are:
· The Lost Orchard by Raymond Blanc
· Community Orchards Handbook by Common Ground
· The Apple Source Book by Sue Clifford and Angela King
· Apples: British to the Core presented by Chris Beardshaw
Waste not want not: creating value from our wastewater
The ultimate goal in sustainable manufacturing of any kind is “circularity”, meaning any waste in a process becomes something useful, and that only potentially useful things become waste in the first place. But in most of the human economy, including food and drink manufacturing, “linear” production methods are the norm. Essentially, we extract raw materials, make a thing, then throw away the waste. And no matter how far removed from nature we think we are, the human economy exists under the same constraints as the natural world. In nature, there is no such thing as “away”. To paraphrase Mufasa’s speech in The Lion King, everything is connected through cyclical processes and there is no such thing as waste in nature. One living thing’s waste is another living thing’s food in the great circle of life.
To make our Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka, we take British apple juice, ferment it into cider, take the alcohol from the cider and then send the alcohol-free and nearly sugarless stewed apple juice for treatment before its ultimate disposal. This is a perfectly safe way of doing things, but it’s still a linear process. We’ve done some analysis on this waste stream and know that it has lots of valuable components for plant growth: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (the main components in commercial fertilisers) as well as micronutrients such as boron, copper, and zinc.
Working in partnership with the University of York’s Biorenewables Development Centre, with funding from Innovate UK, we’ve started a project to extract these components for their use as a natural, slow-release fertiliser known as struvite. Struvite is a mineralised form of fertiliser that slowly dissolves near plant roots, where there is increased acidity in the soil. Because the nutrients contained within struvite release slowly, there’s great potential to decrease instances of nutrient run-off into watercourses.
Not only could this project result in a linear process turned circular, but it also has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The main production methods for commercial fertiliser products rely on non-renewable resources. In the case of nitrogen production, fossil gas is first used create ammonia before synthesising different nitrogen fertiliser products. Phosphorous and potassium fertiliser products are mined, which again is a linear, non-renewable process. It’s no surprise then, that as the cost of energy increases, the cost of fertilisers also increase. According to figures from the UK’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the price of UK-produced ammonia nitrate fertiliser in Great Britain increased by 152% since between May 2021 and May 2022. Prices of the same imported fertilisers increased by 171% over the same period. The price of potassium chloride fertiliser (potash) has increased by 165% and phosphate fertilisers has increased by 120-128%. While the UK currently produces 40% of its fertiliser requirements, one of the UK's two major fertiliser plants has permanently closed, raising concerns about competition in the UK fertiliser industry.
With this project, we’re trying to determine the methods and costs required to extract fertiliser nutrients from our waste, as well as the efficacy of the extracted nutrients and leftover water for use in commercial agricultural systems. If the project is successful it would allow us to close the loop on a business process which is currently linear, and might even create a new revenue stream for our business. Early results show that we can, in fact, extract fertiliser compounds from our waste stream. We’ll also conduct plant growth trials with the remaining, struvite-extracted, liquid to determine whether the liquid part of our waste could be applied to crops as irrigation. The first stage of this project is due to finish in April 2023, so watch this space for more updates!
My first day at Ellers Farm and how I got here…
When you leave a job on 6th December, with the knowledge that you start your new job on 3rd January, a plethora of thoughts run through your mind. It starts with sheer joy and excitement at the prospect of 4 weeks off work for Christmas. But this also leaves a lot of spare time and dog walks with your thoughts. Thoughts about moving from the comfort of a fantastic group of people around you to a team you don't know, especially one with such an impeccable pedigree in this industry.
We all know how quickly Christmas seems to come and go, and before I had the chance to notice, it was Monday, 2nd January, and I was getting prepared to start my new role as On-trade manager at Ellers Farm Distillery. I climb into bed at 9pm, the earliest for the past 4 weeks. The dog couldn't understand why we were in bed so early instead of curling up on the sofa, binge-watching episodes of Yellowstone whilst sipping cocktails and creating reels for Instagram.
The day arrives, Tuesday 3rd January - my first day - and upon arriving at Ellers Farm Distillery, the nervousness soon wears off as I walk through the door. I chat with Nick, Mia and Jamie about their Christmas, and I immediately feel the warmth and welcomeness of the team. From that moment, with the log-burning stove in the background, I knew I'd made a great decision to join this team.
Back in the day, my mother had a house in Tomintoul, a village in Speyside, Scotland: whisky country. We visited the house regularly, and from a young age, we were shown around various distilleries, some of the best in the world, in fact, Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, Strathisla etc. I obviously developed a passion for said spirit, and little did I know I would end up working in that industry.
10 years ago, whilst I was serving in the British Army, if you'd told me I would be the On-Trade manager at a distillery, I'd have spat my ration pack out. You see, I always thought I was a "lifer", someone that would spend 22 years in the military. But in April 2016, I was medically discharged, and I didn't have a clue what I would do in civilian life. What job should I get? What path should I take in life?
And before I had the chance to think about that, I was back working in a management role behind a bar.
I brought in a specialist to run a Gin night and then a Whisky night to entertain the regulars during this time - I was in awe watching him speak so eloquently and passionately about his job. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be involved in the spirits industry.
So, where do you start? How do you get into such a prestigious industry? I began by setting up my own business, running Whisky nights around the country, and sometimes in the junior ranks mess on army camps for my old pals. During my tastings, I soon noticed that a heavily intoxicated person would always ask me to start doing gin nights (at least, I think that's what they were saying).
So, I spoke with two local distilleries; Durham Distillery and Yorkshire Dales Distillery. I owe a lot to both; they showed me the ropes and shared their passion for creating gin. Before I knew it, I was working at Yorkshire Dales Distillery as their sales account manager, a company run by a veteran, which suited me perfectly at the time, as I was beginning to miss the military a lot.
A year later, I found myself working for Masons of Yorkshire as a Regional Development Manager, working my way up to Key Account manager. I began to notice the camaraderie between other sales reps in this industry. This was the key thing I was missing from the military; I had found it again.
During my 3 years at Masons, I learnt a lot from some of the best people, some of whom I can call friends for life. Now here I am, starting a new job at Ellers Farm Distillery, surrounded by people I can learn from even more extensively, and applying the knowledge I have learnt from the military and previous roles in the spirits industry. But more importantly, being surrounded by people that share my passion.
So as I write this, 2 weeks into my new role, I'm proud of what I have achieved. I have found a company with people that share my passion and commitment, and with that, I know this distillery will be a highly successful force to be reckoned with.
"Take the leap; you'll figure it out along the way."
We’re in a music video!
We had the opportunity to sponsor the music video for Groundwork, the latest song by Big Narstie, Ed Sheeran, and Papoose – so we took it!
We had the opportunity to sponsor the music video for Groundwork, the latest song by Big Narstie, Ed Sheeran, and Papoose – so we took it! Steve, our Sales and Marketing Director, was on holiday so I took it upon myself to head down to London with my boot full of Dutch Barn Vodka and specially-made gift boxes for the artists and music video director, Kevin Hudson.
Gift boxes by Drinks Boxx.
I genuinely did not know what to expect, and for a little while I wondered whether it was ever going to happen. I didn’t have any details other than “London” until late in the evening the day before the shoot. When you have stars like Big Narstie, Ed Sheeran, and Papoose being filmed on location around London, the details have to be kept under wraps for as long as possible in order to avoid mobs of adoring fans. I was relieved when the details were finally sent across and then doubly relieved when the locations were revealed to be in North London. I was not looking forward to the prospect of navigating Central London in a car!
I had two missions on the day – the first was to make sure Dutch Barn Vodka was present in the agreed scenes and that the bottles were looking their best. The second was to deliver the gift boxes to their recipients. Less of a mission, but still a requirement of the day, was to be a good ambassador for Dutch Barn Vodka and Ellers Farm Distillery. I kept having this vision of the scene from Wayne’s World where Noah of Noah’s Arcade comes onto the public access cable show and is deeply uncool while trying to push his arcade-based sponsorship agenda. I did not want to be that guy.
My nightmare vision of how I did not want to come across to the production team.
To my relief (and delight) the crew, management teams, and artists were incredibly kind and welcoming. They really made me feel like one of the team for the day.
Our first filming location was Innovation Box, a barbershop on a high street in Edmonton, North London. All the action and filming was taking place in the front of the shop so they set up “video village” in the back room. I watched the live footage on a TV screen along with makeup artists, the shop owner, and some other members of the production team. The first thing I was struck by was how cinematic the production team could make a nice, but otherwise normal barbershop look! The magic of television was coming to life right before my own eyes. The second thing I was struck by was just how sweet the relationship between Ed and Narstie is – they’re friends outside of their music collaborations and were clearly having a great time together.
Video village in the back of Innovation Boxx.
We then went across the street to Taste Di Spice Caribbean Restaurant to film scenes inside and outside the shop. There wasn’t a lot of room inside the shop, so I was outside along with a large cohort of security guards, production crew and TikTok stars appearing in the video as extras. By this time people on the high street had started to notice something exciting was going down and they started to gather around, with lots of them getting photos and videos of the action. The throng of excited fans ballooned when Papoose, Narstie and Ed started performing to the sound of their new single just outside of the shop. Ed had to be on his way at 3, so I needed to get my first gift box delivery underway. I spoke to his team and they let me put the gift box in the boot of his car. Ed kindly thanked me and made my way back into Taste Di Spice to retrieve the bottles of Dutch Barn ready for the next location. I had yet to eat lunch in all the excitement and realised how hungry I was when I saw the half-eaten plates of delicious-looking (and smelling!) Jamaican food. I grabbed a quick bite to eat before making my way to the final location of the day.
Our last stop was Harry’s Off-Licence in Tottenham. Harry’s is a corner-shop treasure trove piled high with soft drinks, wine, spirits, groceries, and eclectic snacks (my personal favourite being The Notorious B.I.G. Honey Jalapeno Rap Snacks). Scenes were first filmed inside the shop, which I can only imagine was a tight squeeze once the lighting and camera crew were all set up. The final scene of the day was filmed just outside the off licence as the sun was setting. The energy was buzzing with everyone singing along and dancing to the chorus. I made my final deliveries to Narstie, Papoose and Kevin, before handing out some thank-you bottles to the production team and Dice Records management. Once I’d handed out the rest of the Dutch Barn Vodka, I headed back to the car to start the long drive back up north.
As I reflected on the events of the day, I felt a real sense of accomplishment. I had no idea what to expect before I turned up and had genuinely feared that I would be in the way all day. Furthermore, I didn’t know whether I’d be allowed within 10 feet of the artists, let alone able to give them their gift boxes. I can only hope that we’ve made some lifelong fans of Dutch Barn Vodka and that everyone loves the music video!
The final scene of the day, filmed outside of Harry’s Off Licence.
Doing the right thing
In his blog, our Sales Director Steve Hickey asks how Retailers can give customers more confidence when looking for ‘real’ sustainable brands.
“Across Grocery there is plenty of genuine desire and activity from retailers and spirits suppliers alike to drive down their carbon emissions.”
I joined Ellers Farm – a new, state-of-the-art distillery being built in the heart of North Yorkshire - a few months ago inspired by the drive and ambition to become one of the leading eco-spirits companies globally through a clear and unfettered focus on people, planet and profit.
Excited to see how the Spirits category was already embracing this future vision, I visited Asda Middleton, a “reduce, reuse and recycle trial store” in a suburb of Leeds. Undoubtedly the store was full of positive and creative initiatives across a number of categories but ultimately I was left to reflect whether we are making it easy enough for consumers in the spirits category who want to ‘do the right thing’ for the planet to make an informed purchase choice?
Across Grocery there is plenty of genuine desire and activity from retailers and spirits suppliers alike to drive down their carbon emissions, promote recycling and reuse, and encourage their customers to adapt their behaviours to become a more sustainable society.
But could we be more radical? Could we push the agenda faster?
Working at Scottish & Newcastle following the acquisition of the Bulmers brand, I saw the speed at which the Cider category grew and we quickly realised the space available to the category instore was insufficient both from a ranging and effective replenishment perspective. The buyers knew the issue but faced their own internal battles to take space from other categories in store.
Roll on a few years to the swift establishment of No and Low Bays to reflect consumer trends, and the even speedier space release to Hard Seltzers. That retailers have become faster and more agile in responding to consumer behaviours has got to be a good thing hasn’t it? So why is it still so difficult in the Spirits category for the huge number of consumers in store who want to make an informed choice on selecting their bottle(s) of spirits? Lidl have recently introduced their new Eco-Score system on 50 Lidl products. What if we had something similar for the Spirits Category? What if we created bays instore / online space / Corporate Events for ‘real’ sustainable products recognised by trusted third parties – not ‘greenwashing’ or vague offsetting initiatives, but genuine offerings that give customers confidence that they are making a choice in line with their own beliefs and principles? Would this make things easier for consumers? Would this accelerate the development of new, innovative ideas and solutions by suppliers? Would this put more scrutiny on sustainability claims and credentials? I’m planning to revisit Asda Middleton in a few months to check on new developments. I wonder if I will see any significant change?
Environmental labelling for food and drinks
“Environmental impact of food and drink varies based on production methods, which means people can reduce emissions through their choices. But in order to do this, they first need to be aware of the differing environmental impacts of food and drinks.”
Nutrition labels are a familiar sight along the aisles of a supermarket. The red, amber and green traffic lights aim to encourage consumers to make healthier choices. I think the same concept can be applied to environmental impact labels to promote more sustainable consumption. Food production is an important area for decarbonisation, with the IPCC reporting the food system to be responsible for up to 37% of total emissions, predicted to increase by 40% by 2050.[1] The good news is that the environmental impact of food and drink varies based on production methods, which means people can reduce emissions through their choices. But in order to do this, they first need to be aware of the differing environmental impacts of groceries - this is where environmental impact labels come into play.
Currently, individual brands can choose to label their products with a do-it-yourself approach, often accredited by a third-party agency. Quorn and Oatley are leading the way in food and Avallen are adopting a slightly different approach for drinks by labelling their Calvados bottle with both carbon and water footprints. While it’s great that these brands are offering such transparency, the information is at risk of being an island to itself without footprint information for other products with which to compare. For example, the footprint of UK beef mince is 27.88 kgCO2e/kg compared to Quorn mince at 1.58 kgCO2e/kg.[2] It’s clear that Quorn is the more sustainable choice in terms of carbon emissions, but without the beef mince also being labelled this isn’t clear to the consumer when making a purchase decision. The success of this comparison also relies on the competitors being labelled using the same standardised methodology (which isn’t the case currently).
However, it is not all doom and gloom for environmental labelling. Recently there has been a progression from carbon labelling to more inclusive environmental impact labels considering more than just global warming potential. Lidl is to label 50 of its own-label products with ‘eco-score’ labels in a pilot starting in October. Nestlé is backing a Foundation Earth pilot project using Mondra labels based on research by the University of Oxford in stores including M&S, Sainsburys and Co-op.[3] The Mondra labels give products a sustainability from A+ to G (not unlike the EU energy labels you can find on electrontics). The scores are based on the product’s life cycle analysis and consider associated carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, water use and pollution.
At Ellers Farm we are keen to match the progress being made in the food industry and be labelling pioneers within the spirits industry. My role in the business is to calculate our forecasted product carbon footprints so we can identify hotspots to reduce emissions and from day one offset our total footprint with Gold Standard carbon offsets. This will enable us, in collaboration with Climate Partner, to label our spirits as carbon neutral and make our carbon footprints publicly available. I believe environmental impact labels are the future for a more sustainable food and drinks industry. With consumers demanding increased transparency [4] isn’t it time we give them the information they need to make more sustainable choices?
SOURCES
[1] https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
[2] https://www.quorn.co.uk/assets/files/content/Carbon-Trust-Comparison-Report-2021.pdf
How can we make the industry better for our planet?
When I was approached about joining Ellers Farm Distillery in the spring of 2021, I wasn’t actually looking to leave the role I was in at the time. But I was drawn in by the vision to have a big positive impact on the environment, the community, and workers all the while creating a thriving spirits business. I was hooked when Andy and Jamie didn’t laugh me out of the virtual meeting room with some of my long-term blue-sky ideas for the business. I’ve spent my career entirely in the food industry up to this point, so working in the drinks industry is an exciting new opportunity for me to sink my teeth (or reusable metal straw) into.
Being a newcomer might give me a slightly different perspective to veterans of the industry, and a couple of weeks into my new role I thought I’d take a look at some of the top environmental challenges for the drinks industry (I think the blogpost could quite easily turn into a dissertation if I covered societal challenges as well).
Water
I don’t think this one will actually be a surprise to anyone in the drinks industry – of course we need water to make drinks! But I think it’s all too easy to gloss over the fact that for every litre of finished spirit, there are upwards of 12 litres of wastewater associated with it [1]. I think there’s a common perception here in the UK that we’re not short of water because it rains so much. But in the UK we are looking at a public water supply deficit of 3,500 million litres per day by 2050 [2]. And globally, demand for water is projected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to increase by 50% by 2030, and the UN projects a 40% global water shortfall by 2030.
But current water prices don’t reflect the looming scarcity of this valuable resource and I’d say that this lack of financial pressure probably means that water isn’t the highest on the agenda for many producers. The spirits industry is the most water-intensive sector of the food and drink industry and uses the most water overall, beating even the meat-processing sector [3]. As an industry, we need to look at opportunities to use less water in the first place and focus on how we can recover water that is currently classed as “waste”.
Glass
There are big benefits that come with using glass – it’s infinitely recyclable, nontoxic, and looks great on a shelf. But glass has its downsides – it’s heavy (which means more fuel is required to transport it from place to place) and it takes a lot of energy to create compared to other packaging types. For example, if all the plastic bottles in the world were made from glass instead, the additional carbon emissions would be equivalent to powering around 22 large coal-fired power plants [4]. When it comes to glass, recycled content has a big impact on the overall carbon emissions. Virgin glass (which is made without any recycled material) actually creates CO2 as it melts. When recycled glass is used, less energy is needed to melt the glass and no further CO2 is given off from the glass itself, meaning that for every tonne of recycled glass used, 185kg of CO2 is saved [5].
On average, the recycled content of all glass in the UK is about 38% (across green, amber, and clear) [6], which isn’t too bad. However, there will be some premium brands that will specify their glass must be super-clear (sometimes called super-flint) and therefore won’t contain any recycled content. Most manufacturers (us included!) want perfect colour consistency within and between production runs, which means careful control of the glass composition, which may mean using more virgin raw material depending on the quality of recycled glass available at any given time [7]. This creates a real tension between maximising environmental sustainability while maximising economic sustainability, as brands rely on their products being recognisable and attractive to drive sales. When I was working in food, we made the decision to switch from hard-to-recycle black plastic ready meal trays into trays made from 80% recycled plastic. At the time, the trays would come in a range of muted colours from earthy terracotta to different shades of green. Perhaps drinks brands should start to embrace a tonal rainbow of glass colours that allow for maximum recycled content at all times.
Single-use packaging
Reusing the same packaging is even better than recycling! I’m not suggesting that we all start placing our empty vodka bottles outside of our homes for the vodka delivery person to collect and refill, but we need to take a serious look at reusable options in our industry. There are direct-to-shopper solutions around at the moment like Loop. This scheme works by shoppers paying a small refundable deposit that pays for higher-quality reusable packaging which is then collected, washed, and finally refilled by the manufacturer before being placed back on shelves to be purchased once again. A solution like Loop is certainly innovative, but I think the real opportunity here lies in refillable packaging to the bar, pub, and restaurant trade. In the world of spirits, the trade is sold the same products as regular supermarket shoppers – heavy glass bottles in 500-750ml quantities, all of which require a lot of energy to transport and then need to go back into the recycling stream. My (potentially naive view) is that an establishment only needs a couple of bottles of each kind of spirit at once, and the ability to refill those bottles as needed. I think the spirits industry needs to develop a solution not dissimilar to how beer is delivered in kegs – a reusable, decantable bulk package that, once empty, is delivered back to the manufacturer via reverse logistics. But unlike beer, which is dispensed from kegs through a tap, the spirits could be decanted into the lovely shiny bottles designed by the brands, making them recognisable for the customer.
Energy
Distilleries use a lot of steam and hot water. The heat required is produced by boilers that are normally fired by fossil fuels (natural gas, LPG, or oil, to name a few). When combusted, these fossil fuels create greenhouse gasses and air pollution. It is possible to create steam and hot water using electricity, but this can be too costly as electricity prices can be more than double than the price of fossil fuels. But there is one potentially cost-effective fuel source for combustion boilers that I’m particularly excited about – hydrogen. Hydrogen can be produced in one of two ways:
Electrolysis – this requires electricity and a technology called an electrolyser to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Reformation – in this process hydrogen is extracted from a HydroCarbon such as natural gas, biogas or coal [8].
I’m particularly excited about the first method, often referred to a green hydrogen, as this allows for hydrogen to be produced entirely from renewable energy sources like wind or solar, creating an entirely emission-free energy source.
One of the pioneering distilleries in this space is Bruichladdich Distillery, who have stated their goal is to entirely decarbonise their operations by 2025. Bruichladdich, along with hydrogen developers Protium Green Solutions, have just completed a feasibility study to assess the technical and commercial viability of using green hydrogen at their site [9]. As an industry we have a responsibility to look at best-in-class examples like these and rapidly adopt emerging technologies wherever we can.
Agriculture
In the food industry, ruminants get a lot of beef (!) for their contribution to climate change. But crops can have a negative impact on the environment as well. In 2019, the agricultural sector was responsible for 10% of all the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions [10]. But the environmental impacts of agriculture aren’t just limited to climate change: land use change, water use, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation are all impacts of our current agricultural system. Half of the world’s habitable (ice-and desert-free) land along with 70% of global freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture and 78% of ocean and freshwater eutrophication is caused by agriculture [11]. These pressures also have major impacts on biodiversity – of the of the nearly 39,000 species evaluated to be threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List, agriculture is listed as a threat for more than 19,000 of them. Further adding to the uniformity, 75% of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species [12]. This lack of biodiversity and the prevalence of large crop monocultures decreases the resilience of our agricultural systems by depleting soil nutrients and giving pests and disease more opportunities to thrive and spread.
I think we have a huge opportunity to use different crop varieties and to increase biodiversity in the drinks industry. We don’t face the same barriers as the food industry – people don’t need the knowledge of how to use different varieties of grains and fruits because we turn these inputs into liquids for them! I think a really beautiful example of this is the story of a retired chemical engineer who has scoured the Appalachian region of the United States to rescue over 1,000 varieties of apples that were on the verge of extinction. I recognise that massive conservation efforts might be a step too far for large scale industry, but there are other options for change that can take place now. One tangible step that could be taken is increasing the use of cover crops in agricultural systems. By challenging conventional practices (where soil is left bare after harvest) and instead using cover crops, farmers have an opportunity to increase soil health, decrease the need for artificial fertilisers, and take more carbon out of the atmosphere.
Cover crops are a good first step, but I think the holy grail for sustainable agriculture is agroforestry - a system wherein a variety of trees, shrubs, crops, and sometimes livestock are all contained within the same system. This improves soil health, increases productivity, increases resilience to pests and disease, improves wildlife habitats, and creates valuable public goods like clean air and water. Agroforestry works with nature to allow multiple species to thrive in balance with one another. I think we should be piloting projects like this across the industry and working with our farmer suppliers to prove that agricultural practices that are better for the environment can also provide a sustainable income source.
It’s always important to remember that sustainability has three aspects: environmental, social, and economic, and sometimes these aspects are in direct competition with one another. Though I am an idealist at heart, I know that we can’t be a business that does good if we don’t make any money! There is always a balance to be had between all three aspects of sustainability, and reaching harmonious perfection will be a never-ending quest – but one that I am incredibly excited to take on with the rest of my teammates at the farm!
SOURCES
[1] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12010-020-03343-5
[2] WRAP, 2021
[6] https://www.britglass.org.uk/sites/default/files/1709_0001-E1-17_Recycled%20content_0.pdf
[12] United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation
Building a community spirit
Andy B gives us an overview of the Ellers Farm Distillery project, what it will become and his reason for joining this incredible venture.
The Very Beginning
My journey to Ellers Farm Distillery began in early 2020, when we first discussed the vision to create the best products in the most sustainable and ethical way possible – something I feel strongly about. Knowing the company is family-owned, and thus independent in how it sets and achieves its sustainable goals was a key reason in being drawn to this incredible opportunity.
Since taking the reins as Managing Director, I have started growing that vision and it became increasingly important for us to start visualising a place to call home for this wonderful distillery that would become the foundation that we build that vision upon.
In the same way that all great stories start, it was a chance discussion between friends that highlighted a farm situated in a rural location just a few miles outside of the great city of York, in the village of Stamford Bridge, North Yorkshire as a potential site for us to call home.
As we spent time in this amazing part of the country, surrounded by fields and imposing oak trees, everything just felt right. As we started to learn more about Ellers Farm, such as the pair of breeding Barn Owls that live here and were the inspiration for our logo, or the curved features of the Dutch Barn, that lend themselves perfectly to housing our distillation column, that feeling of excitement you get when you know you’ve found something special started to grow.
Our Journey to Building a World Class Distillery
Jump forward to today, and we are well on our exciting journey to building Ellers Farm Distillery. Our aim is to sustainably produce the world’s best tasting distilled spirits – to put it simply, sustainable perfection.
Everything we are doing is balancing the drive to make the best possible product with the smallest possible environmental impact. From choosing our ingredients to shipping bottles, we select the materials, choose the partners, embrace the technology, and uphold the traditions that help us towards our dual ambition.
Of course, we will still need to use energy, natural resources, and man-made materials, so we will be planting trees to create our very own orchards, drilling a borehole on site to create a natural water supply, and investing in environmental projects until we are certain that we put back more than we take.
For us, it is so important that Eller’s Farm Distillery is not only sustainable, but that the business we do is ethical. This is why we will be employing a Head of Sustainability in the near future. We have also committed to more than offset the impact of every employee’s work and personal footprints, making us a climate positive workforce right from the very start.
We refuse to rest on our laurels and therefore, we are working through the process to achieve B-Corp certification, a standard that we believe balances all the elements of a great business, but also requires every member not to sit back, but to keep pushing for improvement.
Not just a Distillery
Nestled between Malton and York, in the picturesque setting of Stamford Bridge, is where you can find our distillery. We are extremely proud of our North Yorkshire roots and we want everyone to come and be part of what we are creating.
We deeply believe in creating a real bond with our local community and will be working with local suppliers, providing employment, partnering with likeminded local businesses and ultimately, driving tourists to the region and showcasing all that North Yorkshire has to offer.
The visitor experience we will create, will be a fantastic day out with activities for all including tours, tastings, and educational classes and experiences, which we believe will perfectly complement the existing world class offerings in the North Yorkshire region.
Simply put, Ellers Farm will be a great day out. We can’t wait to welcome you soon!
I hope reading this has piqued your interest in Ellers Farm Distillery. Stay in touch through the site and our social media, and I hope to see you personally down at the distillery some time.
Sustainability in our heart
Gee talks about our sustainable and ethical ambitions and explains why we are good by nature.
The Ellers Farm distillery is under construction in the scenic landscape of North Yorkshire. What drew me to Ellers Farm was the chance to build global brands with a sustainable and ethical core.
Our sustainable mission starts at our heart, and pumps through the veins of everything we do: from the materials we use, the processes we have implemented, our efforts to off-set our carbon footprint and our ambition for these actions to culminate in achieving B-Corp certification as soon as we can.
Our Ethical Promise
We believe we have an opportunity to truly disrupt not only the spirits industry, but the wider food and drinks industry. We take a relentless approach to running a responsible business with honesty and transparency at its core and we know there is always room for improvement in the way we impact the environment, the people who work for us, and the communities in which we operate.
We operate from a place of radical responsibility and consider our impacts on people, planet, and profit in every action we take. We want to set an eco-friendly example to the rest of the industry. Our approach to sustainability is what sets us apart from the majority of the spirits industry today, but our hope is that one day not too far away the only thing that will set us apart is the quality of the liquid in our bottles.
We’re Good by Nature!
Ellers Farm Distillery will be climate positive from day one – before we even placed the foundations for our distillery, we have already planted over 600 trees to actively off-set to a greater degree our carbon footprint.
We believe that planting trees is incredibly important for the environment, helping to combat global warming by absorbing poisonous carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere and releasing healthy oxygen. Trees also reduce wind speeds and cool the air as they lose moisture and reflect heat upwards from their leaves.
After all, we want the stunning North Yorkshire countryside surrounding our beautiful distillery to be around for the generations to come, and so we’ve committed to do our part for the environment!
Supporting the Local Community
We not only want to support other business with similar ambitions, but also give back to our local community from day one. Born and bred in North Yorkshire, we are proud to be owned by a local family and free from corporate interference so that we can course our own journey. As a result, we have chosen to work with close ranged and ethical suppliers and support the local community.
Not only is our decision to source closer to home engrained in our DNA, but it also helps us to reduce our carbon footprint and minimise our impact on the environment.
Our B-Corp Ambitions
Our ethical aims are ambitious, and we are proud they are so. We want to achieve B-Corp certification as soon as humanly possible, with the goal of becoming the first family-owned distillery in the UK to achieve this.
By harnessing the power of business, B-Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment. The B-Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high-quality jobs with dignity and purpose.
Here at Ellers Farm Distillery we applaud other organisations seeking to become climate positive. In the near future we will be employing a Head of Sustainability, we are looking forward to that person working with other eco-friendly organisations that share our vision and sustainable drive.
Recruiting a Head of Sustainability, at this stage of our journey, demonstrates our ambitious goals for helping to protect our planet. Our aim is to be the best for the world by being the world’s best, and we hope that you will join us on this journey to sustainable perfection.
The best for the world, by being the world’s best
Jamie lends his considerable insight into explaining how we intend to produce the world’s finest spirits.
After over a decade of creative distillation, I now find myself in the most exciting chapter of my career, working alongside the spectacular team at Ellers Farm in the heart of North Yorkshire. Still in its infancy, what attracted me to building a state-of-the-art distillery was not just the promise of the facilities needed to deliver a superior quality product, but also the pledge to do so in a way that gives back to the beautiful planet our ingredients come from.
From day one, Ellers Farm is committed to being climate positive. We’ve started as we mean to go on, re-investing into our planet by already planting over 600 trees. With this in mind, my personal challenge as Master Distiller is to embark on this sustainable mission whilst still creating the best spirits I possibly can. It’s not enough for our bottles to be “amazing” or “brilliant”, I am pursuing sustainable perfection.
My story
Having had the opportunity to create hundreds of different spirit recipes throughout my career, going into millions of bottles and countless eager hands, I have been privileged enough to have my hard work recognised by the most prestigious drinks awards in the world. With over 200 national and international awards under my belt, including double Gold Spirits Award’s and Best in the World at the San Francisco Wine & Spirits Awards (affectionately coined the “Oscars of Booze”), I’ve gained the confidence to know that the way I do things is the right way.
What’s my secret?
People often ask me, “What’s your secret?”. Well, it’s actually quite simple – all it takes is the following four foundations working in cohesion to create the world class spirits I’m known for:
State-of-the-art equipment
Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work with some truly remarkable equipment, and at Ellers Farm, that’s no different. Consistency is key for our products, so we’ve kitted out our state-of-the-art distillery with equipment from the best manufacturers around, ensuring that the millionth bottle is just as flawless as the first.
The process
Next, getting the distillation process right is vital. There are many variants and qualities of spirit produced in huge plants, which can make a decent liquid by diluting them or adding flavours. However, if you have access to copper equipment, you can improve the spirit you buy in. By purifying the liquid through a re-rectification process, the undesirable sulphides bind to the copper and, in turn, are removed from the product.
The level above that, and what we will be doing, is making the spirit from scratch. Whether sourced from the planting we will be doing on the farm or through a trusted British supply chain I have built up over the years, we will ferment, strip the alcohol, rectify to 96%+ purity, polish, filter, rest and, finally, blend with water from a borehole on our farm. Doing it this way gives me ultimate control over every element of the final liquid, with full traceability back to the source.
The final piece of the puzzle is my obsessive attention to detail and care taken throughout every part of the process. At least every 20 minutes, I’ll check the liquid, tasting and monitoring to tweak it so the spirit is absolutely perfect. My meticulous approach to the spirit process pays off, with one of my previous spirits that I blended into vodka going on to be named best in the world – an award I am aiming to achieve again at Ellers Farm.
Sourcing the best ingredients
The first two steps give us a great starting point, but a spirit is only as good as the ingredients that go into it. In order to make the best possible liquid we can, sourcing the perfect ingredients without compromising can be a stressful task. For instance, one of the key ingredients in gin is juniper, a plant not natively found in the UK. Of course, we could grow our own juniper or use a UK supplier, but due to the unfavourable British climate, it doesn’t offer the level of perfection we strive for.
After looking all over the world, I found that the high oil content of Macedonian juniper gives the best flavour, and my supplier has a 30+ year relationship with a local grower there allows me to ensure I have the ingredient traceability and quality I require. The only downside to importing ingredients is the increased carbon footprint compared to buying from the UK. Nevertheless, if we were to compromise on our product quality, it would set off a chain of events that would affect our ability to support global agricultural development and, ultimately, the resources we have available to invest back into the environment.
Experimentation
I’ll hold my hands up – when I was a child, I never told my schoolteachers: “I want to be a Master Distiller when I grow up!”, but I’ve always had a passion for food and flavour. So, when the opportunity was sent my way at a previous business, I rose to the challenge and kept things going. Coming from a position of little experience at the time, I naturally adopted an unorthodox approach that enabled me to experiment with unique methods that an established or trained distiller would not have used.
From ‘smoking’ vodka, to making gin from potatoes, or even turning marmalade into vodka, I have a distinct combination of creativity and naivety that inspires new recipe creation and experimentation. At Ellers Farm, I have boundless opportunity to create new exciting products under our product development programme, using unusual and local ingredients that will form part of our small batch spirit range, which will be available at our on-site shop at the distillery’s visitor centre.
Exciting times are ahead for Ellers Farm Distillery. Regardless of whether it’s vodka, gin, whiskey, calvados, or a bottle of liqueur, the mantra stays the same - If it’s not as perfect as it can be, improve it. Whatever it takes from the planet, give more back.