Hoogah x Fair
Great news- Hoogah’s winter cocktail menu has launched!
Even better news- every drink uses Fair spirits meaning they’re not only super tasty but ethical too!
As the Community Projects Officer at Hoogah, my work is all about the social and environmental impact of Hoogah and the suppliers we use.
So, I’m delving into the brand Fair and showing you all why we love them so much….
Festive Favourites: Chilli Gin Winter Spritz, Cranberry Mimosa, Snowball Chai & Cacao Martini.
How ethical is the alcohol we drink?
It might not be something we really think about when we’re downing shots or enjoying a cocktail on a Friday night. But ethical spirits have been on the mind’s of the makers of alcohol brand Fair for over ten years.
Fair are the creators of the world’s first fair trade spirits and for ten years the company has been caring for the planet and global communities through their ethical drinks.
When some of the Hoogah team met with Fair’s UK brand representative Paul to taste the brand’s full range of products and discuss all things fair trade, Paul told us there were four main factors they thought about when making sure the company has a positive impact on the world. These were:
The protection of land
Worker’s conditions
Healthcare
Education
So, how does a drink like vodka tie into some of these ideas?
Well, Fair’s vodka isn’t made with the usual ingredients of potatoes and wheat as these can’t be fair trade certified. Instead, their vodka is made from organic quinoa which is ethically-sourced from a co-operative in Bolivia. It is then brewed in France to create a smooth, gluten-free, nutty vodka that is so good you can drink it straight- trust me!
Paul explained the ethical issues that come into play when sourcing quinoa and here’s a recap of what we learnt:
Quinoa is a seed from a plant which is native to Peru and the sky-rocketing recent demand for it from US and European markets has had devastating environmental consequences.
As farmers try to meet the growing demand for quinoa, they use more and more land which is unsustainable and negatively impacts the biodiversity and food security of the area.
The needs, wellbeing and sustainability of one region and its population are ignored for the profits and demands of Western countries.
This is a power imbalance (with a colonial history) that Fair steers clear from. The brand’s commitment to fair trade values ensures their products are produced in a sustainable way so that the environment and its population are not exploited for profit.
Vodka is only one part of Fair’s range, which also includes café liqueur, kumquat liqueur, juniper gin and rum. I was impressed by the quality of all these drinks when I first tasted the range but my absolute favourites were the quinoa vodka and the café liqueur, which you can find in our Fairspresso Martini (made with 100% ethical ingredients!).
At Hoogah, we’ve been using Fair products like the quinoa vodka as our house-pour since we first opened our doors.
I spoke to owner Angie about Hoogah’s journey with Fair:
Why did Hoogah choose Fair as a supplier from the very beginning?
When we set up Hoogah we knew that we wanted to do hospitality a bit differently and a big part of that is choosing which products we want to sell. We wanted products we can get really excited about and that had a positive impact on the world. So we did that with our coffee and all of our food products and we wanted to do the same with our alcohol.
Our ethos of how we sell alcohol is important too, so we wanted to be responsible with our alcohol sales but we also wanted to find an ethical spirits range. I was fed up as a bartender working in different places and serving Smirnoff as my house vodka. Fair’s gluten-free, organic, fair trade, quinoa vodka that supports women’s projects in Bolivia was much more up my street.
Is it a lot more expensive than those more common house vodkas?
It is. To put it into context, it’s over £15 more a bottle but there’s something irritating about when you go somewhere and you get served something you can just go and buy down the road. For example, a Gordons G&T will cost you £4.40 down the pub and you could have just bought a full bottle of it for not much more down the shop. This can be really annoying so I wanted to do something different.
But we still really want to be an accessible venue and use good brands in an affordable way. You’ll pay the same here for a single vodka and mixer than you do in Uplands and in town and you get a far superior product.
How does Hoogah align with Fair’s ethos and values?
We’re all about quality. Some fair trade products have been criticised for their quality but Fair products are outstanding so they’re happy to sit along our other brand profile and our food profile because it’s as good as it gets.
Also, part of the reason that they’re involved in the Fair Trade foundation is because they understand the need for structure for charity work and they get extra premiums to give to the communities they’re supporting.
In that sense we’re similar at Hoogah because we hold our own charity fundraisers for local communities and we’re not just a business. Just like Fair, we have a business structure but we’ve proven that you can do good through business. You don’t have to be a charity or a not-for-profit to have a really positive impact.
Why do you think it’s important for hospitality businesses to think about the environmental and social impact of the products they serve?
The environmental and social impact of everything that we do is important. That’s something that me, Tam and Alec (the other founders of Hoogah) have always felt and believed. You vote with your wallet and one way I like to think of it is that when you look at spirits like gin or vodka, because it’s a clear drink and it looks like water, people think it’s a simple product. But the amount of hands it’s gone through before it gets to us, the amount of -work that goes into the quinoa= harvesting it, processing it- there’s so many layers to the production.
Consumers are now starting to care about the carbon footprint of the products they consume and they want to know more about the ethics behind the product.
Luckily we have always cared about these things anyway, so now that it's becoming more mainstream we are able to talk about it. We’ve been doing it for a little while already and we’ve still got loads of ways we could improve- we’re by no means the best but there’s a real desire to be better and to show that hospitality doesn't have to be this big wasteful, selfish industry.
Hospitality is about people anyway- it’s about bringing people together, looking after them and making them happy. But, if we’re eating and drinking products that exploit people elsewhere it goes against the whole point of hospitality.
Are there any difficulties that come with trying to source ethical products?
Yeah, it does take a lot more work when you want a specific product that not many wholesalers stock. You have to jump through hoops, paying more and buying larger quantities but over time that improves. Our commitment to Fair has contributed to the fact that a local wine merchant now stocks it for us which makes our life more easier.
So even as a small business you’ve managed to create a demand around these types of products?
Yeah, you create it and you work towards the future you want. It might be a bit slow but with enough perseverance you can make change. We want to see more bars in Swansea stocking this stuff, we’ve definitely seen an interest from our customers. We recently hosted a cocktail and canapé night called ‘Flare with Fair’ and customers were really interested to hear about the stories behind the products. I really think that customers care and if they know you’re doing something more ethically they’ll put the effort in to come see you and spend money with you because they know it's going towards something positive.
