What circular products or business models are you producing or using in your organisation?
The Stirling brothers set up Arbikie Distillery with the aim to be ‘one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries’. Arbikie is a rare, field-to-bottle distillery as it grows, distils, matures and bottles it’s family of sustainable spirits at the Arbikie Farm Distillery at Lunan Bay, just north of Arbroath. The Stirling family has been farming for over 400 years and Iain, John, David & Sandy are the latest ‘custodians’ of their land.
They launched with Scotland’s first Scottish Potato Vodka, Tattie Bogle in October 2014, using the ‘wonky’ potatoes that were being rejected by the supermarkets. Arbikie recently launched the world’s only ‘Climate-Positive’ gin & vodka, Nàdar (Gaelic for nature) in partnership with Abertay University & the James Hutton Institute, so a truly Tayside project. Nàdar removes 1.5kg of carbon per bottle from the atmosphere and is revolutionising the spirits world.
Arbikie also distils the world’s only Rye Scotch Whisky, Highland Rye using the Arantes variety of Rye that it grows on its farms. After distilling is complete, the ‘draft’ (waste cereal) is fed back to their cows so completing a fully circular process of growing to distilling, or field-to-bottle.
Arbikie’s global customers include The Savoy, Oriole, Connaught, Aman Resorts, Four Seasons, Dorchester Collection, Rosewood, Soho House, Ennismore/Gleneagles, Whole Foods, Harrods, The Ritz, Harvey Nichols, The Gibson, The Fat Duck & Jumeirah Hotels.
They are about to open The Arbikie Distillery Experience to allow discerning consumers to see and taste their full sustainable process of field-to-bottle. They are therefore helping to showcase Tayside & Scotland and to promote the essential circular economy message to the world.
