SUSTAINABLE DISTILLERY PLANTS 20,000 SQUARE METRES OF NATIVE UK WOODLAND

This article was distributed as a press release in October 2022

Cooper King Distillery is celebrating an exciting milestone in their support of environmental charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT).

As the partnership reaches its fourth year, the sustainable distillery has supported the planting of more than 2,000 native UK trees – over 20,000 square metres – enough to create nearly three football pitches of new woodland.

1% for the Planet

Since August 2018, Cooper King Distillery have pledged to donate at least 1% of their gin sales towards YDMT’s tree planting work, with over £20,000 donated to date.

They were also the first distillery in Europe to join the environmental initiative 1% for the Planet, the first in the UK to offer a gin refill scheme, and the first in the country to produce carbon-negative gin. All the wheat and barley for their spirits is sourced from Yorkshire farms.

Sarah Hodgson, Development Manager at YDMT said:

“We’re really grateful to be partnering with Abbie, Chris and the Cooper King team, and are appreciative of what they have done for woodland creation across the Dales.

“Planting trees is vitally important not only to mitigate the impacts of climate change but also to create habitat for some of our most vulnerable wildlife. Cooper King’s support will also enable us to work with local communities to plant even more trees, employ two woodland trainees and establish community tree growing nurseries.”

Each bottle of Cooper King’s international award-winning Dry or Herb Gin sold contributes to the creation of one square metre of woodland in the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas. In addition, sales of their newly-released Berry + Basil Gin Liqueur and Black Cardamom Vodka help to restore one square metre of UK wildflower habitat.

Chris Jaume, who founded independent, crowd-funded business Cooper King Distillery with scientist-turned-distiller Dr Abbie Neilson commented:

“Producing flavour-driven sustainable spirits is at the heart of what we do, because we believe drinking good spirits needn’t cost the earth. Partnering with YDMT has been a wholesome and rewarding process, ensuring this vision becomes a reality.

“A huge thanks is owed to not only YDMT, but to our customers who continue to support our mission, helping to conserve and protect the environment. We’re looking forward to heading out to the Dales in January to get more trees planted!”

Explore further:

• Discover the actions we’re taking to reduce our environmental impact here.

• Purchase a bottle of sustainable spirit through the online shop.