An award-winning Otago Peninsula Distillery has been notified by EKOS – an organisation that helps businesses reduce carbon emissions – that it has achieved carbon neutral status.

Sandymount Distillery, whose Tī Kōuka Forest Gin and Lovers Leap Dry Gin recently won silver at the prestigious London Spirits Competition, have achieved 'carbon neutral' in just two short years in business!

“This is what I’ve been working towards since I built my first still," says Owner and Distiller Richard Wilson (pictured above). "It’s really something to celebrate.”

Above: Sandymount Distillery's solar panels. 

The EKOS certification (which needs to be renewed annually) assesses every aspect of the business, considering the carbon outputs against the carbon mitigation measures.

Richard’s prior experience in facility management meant that he could factor in carbon mitigations as he was developing the distillery site.

“It’s great to be pushing the boundaries in this space. New Zealand’s distilled spirits sector is very collaborative and future-focused so I’m definitely not the only one working with our environmental footprint front of mind. But I’m still pretty happy to be the first to get this tick.”

Richard is aiming to create craft spirits using the property to provide the resources, and replenishing the property by replanting and encouraging the growth of native forest and habitat.

The largest contributor to Sandymount Distillery’s carbon footprint is travel and freight, although Richard delivers Dunedin orders himself, meaning he can combine trips and reduce both fuel consumption and packaging.

Above: Sandymount Distillery's Owner and Distiller, Richard Wilson. 

“To offset our biggest carbon uses, we’re investing in planting native forests, both on site at Sandymount, with a planting plan of 2000 native trees over 36 months, and through the EKOS carbon zero certification plan at Kanuka hill in Uruwhenua, Mōhua (Golden Bay).

So what's next on the wishlist?

“Becoming carbon neutral is the first step, but what we have to do next is work out how to reduce our footprint entirely so we can get to carbon zero," says Richard. 

"There’s a way to go for that yet.”