Sustainability
We continually adopt sustainable production techniques and materials to minimise our environmental impact
Operating a plough to distillery has major benefits when it comes to our environmental impact. We started with a blank canvass to create a facility that draws on the natural resources surrounding us.
Minimal food miles
Transport is the largest contributor to carbon emissions in the UK.
Because our spirit is made from potatoes grown on our family farm, they travel a maximum of 5 miles from field to distillery.
Not only does this reduce carbon emissions, but enables our spuds to remain in the freshest condition when they arrive for processing.
Solar power
Like many food and drink producers, we consume a large amount of energy during the manufacturing process - despite having state of the art, energy efficient stills.
In 2020 we covered the distillery roof in photovoltaic solar panels (pictured) - enabling our stills to run on Cornish sunshine (when the sun’s out!)
Noting it’s not always sunny in Cornwall, we went further, always engaging in Green Energy tariffs, which offset energy consumed from traditional sources with energy from renewables sources.
Zero production waste
With every bottle of vodka requiring five kilos of potatoes to produce, we must input tonnes of spuds a week to meet demand.
Once we produce the spirits, we have a waste product called stillage.
Fortunately, due to being on the farm, we spread our stillage back onto grassland, making an entirely circular rotation for our humble spuds.
Conservation
Potatoes are resource intensive vegetables - to ensure we do not stress the land we only grow in the same field once in every 5 years.
This means we do not release too much carbon into the atmosphere during planting cycles, nor strip the land of excessive nutrients and minerals.
When the fields are not planted with potatoes, they are sown with cover crops - renowned for their ability sequestrate carbon from the atmosphere.
The humble potato
We have grown potatoes at Colwith Farm for over one hundred years!
This humble veg is a great food source and makes the perfect raw material for vodka and gin among a myriad of other delights.
The potatoes we use in our spirits must have a high starch content, meaning we gain great production efficiency. Whenever possible, we will use potatoes not fit for the trade (too small / too wonky / too ugly), again minimising any wastage and reducing environmental impact. Afterall, who are we to judge a potato’s looks anyway?!
Packaging
The glass bottles we use to house our spirits are recyclable, as are the cardboard boxes they are shipped in. We are now trialling a Refill Pouch, noting the massive reduction in carbon emissions during manufacturing.
We have switched to paper adhesive tape to seal our boxes as well as 100% compostable potato starch derived packing peanuts.
Water is life
Our stills require water for cooling. Lots of water!
The topography of the land and an ancient land-drain system means we have spring water, that we pump up to the distillery for cooling using solar power.
Afterwards it trickles out the distillery and back into the water course creating an entirely natural, circular system.
The water we use for blending our spirits, rises from an aquifer located one hundred metres beneath the distillery.
Due to its high quality, it requires minimal treatment and purification - again reducing our environmental impact and maximising natural flavour.
Experience our award winning distillery
Drink-in the heat, the aroma and the unique craftmanship.