Sustainability
In founding Penryn Spirits Pete and Willoughby set out to create innovative products, sustainably. Sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do, and we are keen to ensure that we are able to play our part in decarbonising our lifestyles and acting responsibly.
We are a small firm but our desire and commitment to reducing our footprint – in terms of waste, food miles, and carbon – is large. We certainly know we aren’t perfect, but we are on a mission to be evermore environmentally consciousness and we distil this ethos into all our actions.
When founding the company we were certain that we had to start as we meant to go on. This involved only using renewable sources of energy, ensuring the supply chain was as efficient and local as possible. Packaging and design had to be not only eye catching but it also had to be sustainable and recyclable. We also felt it important to put back more than we took, so all excess emissions which are unavoidable – for example from delivery – we offset by planting trees across Cornwall.
Spirit Production
All the ingredients we use to make our spirits are sourced and distilled to elicit the best flavour possible. We work hard to ensure that we use machines and processes that are environmentally sound throughout: We keep our food miles to a minimum with some ingredients foraged feet from the distillery door; Have always used and will always use 100% renewable energy for our state-of-the art electric still; And choose to work with UK suppliers where possible to reduce haulage distances. We are constantly looking at ways that we can reduce our impact on the planet.
Product Design and Packaging
We wanted to ensure our bottle, packaging, and delivery partners represented everything we believe in – quality, provenance, and sustainability. We chose suppliers and manufactures who share this ethos.
To reduce delivery miles we mainly work with UK firms, many of whom are in Cornwall. For instance, the bottle manufacturer is one of the few operating in England, and not only do they make fantastic glassware but their close proximity to the distillery reduces transport time, cost, and above all CO2. Our corks use sustainably sourced wood and the black seal, important for ensuring a good fit to the bottle and keeping the spirit in perfect condition, is made from recycled plastic. The labels on our bottles are all FSC approved paper and printed walking distance from Penryn Spirits.
When it comes to posting our spirit to our customers, we wanted to ensure that same attention to detail was adhered to. We chose Royal Mail as our mail partner as it meant that no new delivery routes would need be created. Our bottles arrive in a stylish and fully recyclable honeycomb package from Cornish firm Flexi-Hex and contain no plastic.
Offsetting Emissions Through Planting Trees in Cornwall.
Carbon offsetting is important to us, and we feel that to be a responsible business we need to fully understand our carbon footprint and have a plan on how we can mitigate it, no matter how big (or small in our case) we are.
To meet this objective we offset all our emissions by planting trees in Cornwall. We want to put back a bit more than we emit, and improve the natural capital in our landscape at the same time. Initially trees have been planted around our distillery, but as we grow trees will be planted around the county.
We aren’t there yet, but we work hard to ensure that every sip of our drinks leaves as small a footprint on the environment as possible.