This article first appeared in our Earth Day issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published 22 April 2024. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Vodka has been compromised: over recent years it’s become a complicated, flavoured, coloured, thickened product, often polluted with chemicals from field to bottle.
As the founder and managing director of PURE Organic Vodka, Adam Player is strongly against this shift and believes vodka should be a clean, pure product, mastered by its craftsmen.
And he’s on the money; the UK’s drinking culture is continuing to change as people prioritise quality over quantity, and the premium vodka market is booming as a result.
‘We are all becoming increasingly aware of the additives, nasty chemicals and preservatives in convenience food and drink, and are making efforts to revert to raw ingredients’, Adam shares. ‘We want to take back control of our consumption so we know exactly what we are eating and drinking and can cut back on the nasty extras we consume.’
As is also the case in other sectors, today’s drinkers are looking for clean, natural products that are sustainable and respectful of their workers, suppliers, community and the broader environment.
‘This is where we slot in’, Adam says; ‘we are a 100% clean, pure product, with no surprises hidden inside.’
Adam started making PURE in 2017 and the finished product hit the shelves in 2019. ‘I wanted to create as healthy a drink as possible’, he tells us; ‘clean and additive-free, pure vodka – vodka as it should be.’
The original motive to create ‘the most guilt-free drink possible’ led Adam to organic ingredients; ‘creating a healthy, clean spirit had to start with the raw ingredients’, he says. ‘If the ingredients are covered in chemicals from pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, how can the end product be truly pure? So creating an organic spirit fast became an essential factor.’
Adam’s conversion to organic was a swift one; he was already a keen gardener who loves the outdoors, animals and wildlife shows. ‘I hate the thought that my kids may not be able to see an elephant or a polar bear in the wild because we have stood by and failed to protect their habitat’, he tells us.
It is estimated that there is around 50% more plant, insect and bird life on the average organic farm, and that organic farms are home to 30% more species.
If all UK farming went organic and we stopped relying on artificial fertilisers, we’d potentially save 1.3m tonnes of carbon every year – the equivalent of taking approximately 1 million cars off the road.
Organic crops are also up to 60% higher in key antioxidants, which many studies have linked to better-tasting food.
‘If studies show organic-certified drinks are potentially of superior quality and nutritional value, then PURE had to be organic’, Adam shares; ‘we strive for the best!’
The decision to create an organic spirit came with challenges; ‘The moment you are organic you limit your supplier base from a scale of 100 to one’, Adam shares. ‘This means there are more seasonal restrictions as many of the inputs cannot be grown organically all year round.’
Creating a range of clean, flavoured vodkas has also been a challenge – partly because of the limited availability of organic raw ingredients and partly due to the subtleties of how natural flavours react together and can change over time.
‘Without the aid of stabilisers, colourings, additives and preservatives, making flavoured drinks that taste great, look great and stay the same over time is a real challenge!’, Adam acknowledges. ‘That is, in part, why we are so proud of what we have been able to achieve so far. Our flavoured products are all made with 100% natural ingredients, such as organic peaches and grapefruit.’
Creating a spirit that is vegan friendly and gluten free is comparatively straightforward; it’s easy to avoid adding animal products when you are creating a clean spirit, and a product derived from wheat can still be gluten free – the gluten can be removed during the distillation process.
In addition to the commitment to organic ingredients, Adam has pledged PURE will become climate positive by 2024.
‘I believe every business has a responsibility to be carbon neutral and should be obliged to preserve the environment, wildlife and landscapes for the generations to come’, he tells us. ‘Financially, it makes bad business sense as it costs money to offset unavoidable emissions – but that’s also why we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our footprint.’
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