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Sustainability Case Study: Conversation with Two Drifters Distillery
15th March 2021
"The world’s first Rum Distillery to have a Carbon Negative Footprint"
Now, more than ever, consumers are becoming more and more aware of sustainability and are keen to ensure that products they buy will not have detrimental impact on the environment.
Russ and Gemma Wakeham have used their passion for Rum, science and the planet to create the brilliant ‘Two Drifters Distillery’, based in Exeter. The company is the world's first rum distillery to have a carbon negative footprint, leading the way in sustainability. Laura Seaward, Senior Manager and Courtenay White, Executive, caught up with Gemma to find out more.
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Background
Gemma used to be a nurse before moving into medical sales where she worked as a Business Development Manager for 6 years, gaining qualifications in Digital Marketing and Social Media Management.
Russ has a PhD in Organic Chemistry and has spent many years working on carbon capture and utilisation technologies, hence the desire and ability to make the business produce more than just an eco-friendly product.
The couple, originally from Devon, have moved to a number of different cities and countries across the world, developing their skills and knowledge of business and carbon capture along the way before settling down properly in Exeter and starting the business.
Their passion for Rum is clear; their first date was to a rum-tasting and they honeymooned in St Lucia where rum is the clear drink of choice, known as the spirit of the island.
Two Drifters, off to the see the world, there’s such a lot of world to see. We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waiting around the bend.
Russ and Gemma’s wedding dance was to the classic Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the lyrics ‘Two drifters, off to see the world, there's such a lot of world to see’ have always resonated with them; when the company was born they immediately knew it should be called ‘Two Drifters’.
Two Drifters Distillery dabbled in beer for a few months before focusing on Rum and they haven’t looked back, increasing their production from 80 bottles of rum a month to 1,800 a week since incorporation with 5 different rums now in production.
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Sustainability
Russ and Gemma are incredibly passionate about sustainability and incredibly inspiring to anyone interested in reducing their carbon footprint. They understand that climate change is everyone’s responsibility but find it frustrating that many ‘green, sustainable’ products come with a higher price tag.
Their business ethos is clear; they firmly believe in making a product that tastes amazing, actively helps the planet and is affordably priced. Only then will consumers be able to make a difference to climate change without breaking the bank.
So, how do they do it? Carbon Footprint is always at the front of their minds and they have designed their distillery around their CO2 emissions, working out all of their CO2 emissions throughout the entire supply chain, from field to glass to door, donating their waste molasses to a local farmer. And in simple terms they ensure they remove more CO2 than they generate.
They work with a pioneering swiss company called Climeworks who use advanced technology to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air and either recycle it (used as a raw material) or completely remove it from the air by safely storing it underground.
A key business activity is the ‘Carbfix approach’ where they have joined forces with the Icelandic company Carbix to remove carbon dioxide from the air with their direct air capture machines. Carbfix then mixes the carbon dioxide with water and pumps it deep underground. Through natural mineralization, the carbon dioxide reacts with the basalt rock and turns into stone within a few years.
Since 2019 the company has turned 7.58 tonnes of CO2 into stone and avoided 18.28 tonnes of emissions.
Back in November 2020 the company was shortlisted for the ‘Green Company of the Year’ award (and commended by the judge) at The Spirits Business Green Awards, an incredible accolade for such a young company.
The judge ‘liked its use of a certified carbon neutral courier, a zero emissions electric Nissan van for local deliveries, and how it is converting its carbon emissions to stone and edible waste into farm feed. “They show what the little guys can do really well through every step of the supply chain’.
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Future plans
Russ and Gemma are keen to progress the company further and they recently undertook crowdfunding, raising their £150k target in under three hours (raising 190% of the target in total), to support the business as they grow.
The money raised from the campaign will help them to secure new, larger retail opportunities (the brand is now available in John Lewis, Master of Malt and Virgin Wines to name a few) and improve the distillery’s operations; all with carbon footprint at the centre of their plans.
Their focus at present is to rebrand, improve their processes and continue to offer online virtual tours to the public. As soon as COVID-19 allows they are keen to penetrate more of the UK and get back out to showcase their award-winning rum and their incredible carbon-negative footprint.
Longer term the dream is to have a destination distillery in Devon, showcasing how to be carbon negative whilst preparing incredible rum and export across the world, the sky is clearly the limit for this incredible, forward thinking company.
Sustainability tips for other businesses
Russ and Gemma look at their carbon footprint for every single part of their business and they are keen for more and more businesses to follow suit. Some simpler areas that they do that other businesses could consider to reduce their carbon footprint include using:
- Bikes rather than cars and cycling to work
- An electric van for local deliveries
- An electic fork lift in their warehouse
- Flexi-hex for shipping their website orders
- Biodegradable tamper seals by viscoseclosures
- Ecosia search engine, a greener alternative to google
- Splosh cleaning products
- The right energy tariff- energy providers do the hard work for you and all you need to do is pick the most sustainable tariff you can
- Couriers such as DHL or DPD who offset their CO2
Russ firmly believes that CO2 should be considered a waste product and like all waste, they should clear up after themselves. They minimise the amount of CO2 they create, but where it is created, they offset it- an incredible ethic that really does set them apart from a lot of other companies.
