Trash and Treasure Spirits, a new spirits brand flavoured from waste or ‘rescued’ ingredients from local food processors and breweries, has been launched by Warner’s Distillery, famed for its innovative portfolio of award-winning nature positive spirits. In the UK approximately 9.5 million tonnes of food goes to waste annually. Warner’s Distillery, following their corporate purpose of making the best drinks that are best for the planet, wanted to help solve this problem, raise awareness and change behaviours.
This exciting new brand is aimed at eco-conscious consumers and those looking to do their bit to help the planet. The core purpose is to challenge consumers to rethink how they perceive waste and recognise that one person’s trash can be transformed into another’s treasure.
Featuring two expressions in the range, Trash & Treasure Tropical Rum, and Trash & Treasure Citrus Vodka, the spirits are produced from unwanted foods, fruits and peels that would have otherwise gone to landfill, transforming them into delicious drinks.
Trash & Treasure Tropical Rum is distilled with rescued pineapple and mango peels from a fruit processor local to the distillery, then blended with extracts from waste passion fruit and coconut husks to create a tasty tropical Caribbean rum. Fresh passionfruit on the nose erupts from the glass, whilst sweet and juicy mango and pineapple coat the palate with a touch of vanilla. The finish is sweet with caramelised pineapple and toasted coconut. The rum is perfect served over ice with coke or used in cocktails.
Trash & Treasure Citrus Vodka is distilled with zesty rescued lemon peel also from a prepared fruit processor and enhanced with rescued malt dust from Everards Brewery, a longtime customer, for an extra smooth and creamy finish. On the nose, there are bold aromatics of fresh zesty lemon and candied sherbet whilst this creamy vodka gives complex citrus notes of freshly squeezed lemon on the palate. The finish is sour with a tangy kick and subtle sweetness. The vodka is perfect served over ice with lemonade or used in cocktails.
Both expressions are bottled at 37.5% ABV and each RRP at £26. The brand is also exclusively listed with Tesco, online and in-store nationwide from today..
“As a certified B- Corp company with the planet at its heart, we wanted to raise awareness of how much unnecessary waste is produced by the industries we love, and how we can change our relationship with the things we consume by embracing a reduced waste approach. Knowing that the most thrown away food group in the UK is fresh fruit & vegetables, a subject close to my heart after a decade in the produce industry, we began to think of ways to put this waste to better taste and challenge consumers’ perceptions’ commented Tom Warner, CEO of Warner’s Distillery.
Tom continues; ‘With great tropical flavours at our disposal from our local fruit processor and rum becoming one of the fastest growing categories in the off trade, we thought a flavoured tropical rum would work extremely well. We also have a fantastic source of lemon peels, and with vodka being the largest spirit category in the UK, and +3% growth in flavoured vodka (vs 4YA), this also felt like a great product to bring to market.
Trash & Treasure has certainly inspired us, and we want it to inspire people all over the world, as well as other industries. We can all play our part in reversing needless waste and finding creative ways to upcycle it into new products.”
Trash & Treasure is produced and distributed by Warner’s Distillery, and is available now in-store and online with Tesco. The brand will start being rolled out to the on-trade with Whitbread and Everards initially from April 2024 and will also be listed in further UK supermarkets later this year.
