Pod Pea Vodka

A glass bottle of Pod Pea Vodka / Source: Pod Pea Vodka

CorkEuropeFood & BeverageGlassPackaging

6 MINUTE READ

Nate Tyler

WHAT WE SAY:

The spirits industry probably isn't the first sector that comes to mind when thinking about the transition away from plastic - after all, most spirits are packaged in glass. But manufacturing glass still emits large amounts of CO2, and even when plastic isn't the primary packaging material, it still lurks within the labels, glues, and inks used to decorate said package.

Pod Pea Vodka from Ten Locks Distillery in the UK knows it isn't enough to almost be plastic free, which is why the three-year development of its unique pea-based vodka paid close attention to the pack as well as the drink. While there is still work to be done, the brand is a shining example of what's possible when a product prioritises purpose as well as profit.

KEY FACTS:

Pod Pea Vodka makes the spirit from British-grown green peas. Based in Manchester, UK, the company is dedicated to sourcing both its feedstock and its packaging within the country, and is committed to the three Ps - people, purpose, and planet.
The home-grown, pea-flavoured vodka is made from peas farmed on the Somerleyton Estate in Suffolk. The company ferments and distills the peas in steam-heated bespoke copper stills in its home city, adding botanicals such as sea kelp and asparagus for depth of flavour and complexity.
The company's choice to make vodka from peas - a process that took three years to perfect - is grounded in the soil-rejuvenating properties of the peas themselves. Known as 'nitrogen fixers', peas help to regulate nitrogen levels in the soil, which acts as a fertiliser for future crops. The use of peas is the brand's primary route to becoming a climate-positive brand.
The vodka is purposefully packaged in 'perfectly imperfect' Glass bottles, made from a combination of sand from the beaches of Norfolk and post-industrial waste glass that's destined for further processing. These bottles require less carbon and energy to create, and reduce material waste throughout the supply chain. As a result of these practices, bottles can differ slightly in colour and feature small imperfections in their finish, something the brand embraces by comparing its bottles to peas - no pea is perfectly round.
Other elements of the brand's packaging include locally designed and printed labels made using wood-free, FSC-certified sandpaper with no hidden foils or plastics. The brand is still working to rid its Cork of fossil-fuel based binders - a common feature of the cork industry - but once this is achieved, the entire bottle will either be easily and efficiently recycled through the glass waste stream, or home compostable.
Ten Locks Distillery launched in 2020, with Pod Pea Vodka appearing on the market in Spring 2023. The vodka is already stocked at Selfridges and is used within the Hawksmoor restaurant chain.
The brand is currently conducting an LCA to help quantify its overall environmental impact.

The brand's perfectly imperfect bottles / Source: Pod Pea Vodka

The bespoke copper still where the peas are fermented and distilled / Source: Pod Pea Vodka

DIVE DEEPER:

The small changes that Pod Pea Vodka is making to minimise its impact add up quickly. A 2018 study looking at the toll of alcohol consumption in Sweden on our climate found that the production of spirits generates 2.07 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per litre of alcohol.
While this might not seem excessive, the volume of spirits produced each year is no small feat. Take Smirnoff, for example. The world's best-selling vodka brand sold 25.6 million nine-litre cases in 2019, which, based on the above calculations, equals 476.928 million kilograms of CO2 equivalent - in just one year, by just one brand. If Pod Pea Vodka is able to achieve climate-positive production, this could set a bold example for the rest of the industry to follow.
Pod Pea Vodka's climate-positive goal is grounded in its use of peas. Known as "nitrogen fixers", peas pull nitrogen from the air and deposit it in their roots. This nitrogen is used by Rhizobia bacteria to fertilise soils in the area where peas are grown. If pea plants are tilled into the ground after harvest, the nitrogen stays there too, providing enough fertiliser for other crops grown the following year. This regenerative process is a far cry from the monocultures of wheat and rye often used to make standard vodka, and helps to ensure fertile soils for generations to come.
Creating pea vodka was no easy task, and the brand took three years to perfect the process and the recipe, stating that "believe it or not, peas are very difficult to make vodka with ... there is not a lot of sugar in peas, so fermentation was a challenge and the full process takes seven weeks." The journey led the company to realise peas are a "little one dimensional on the flavour front", which informed the addition of botanicals.
Transitioning towards plastic-free labels and corks is another win for the spirits industry. At present, most spirit brands use plasticised labels and apply them with plastic-based glues, while corks that seem natural on the outside are constructed with synthetic binders. By using wood-free labels, Pod Pea Vodka is cutting down on plastic but also helping to steer the paper industry away from tree-based solutions, in turn reducing the rate of deforestation.
Pod Pea Vodka is said to have a sweet, vegetal taste with a hint of citrus, alongside light, savoury tones and a silky finish. One 700 millilitre bottle of Pod Pea Vodka retails at GBP 44.99 (USD 57.23).

"Pod Pea Vodka was created with the guiding principle to source everything - where humanly possible - locally."

Becky Davies - head of commercial, Ten Locks Distillery - as quoted in The Spirits Business

Key Design Considerations:

The food crop quandry

Pod Pea Vodka uses a food crop to make alcohol. While one can argue that wheat, rye, and potatoes are also food crops, it's good to question if drawing on another food resource is the right way to disrupt an industry when millions of people go hungry every day. Food waste, on the other hand, is abundant, and offers a wealth of opportunities to beverage brands looking to make a difference. For inspiration look to Toast Ale, who uses surplus bread to replace barley in the beer-making process; or Discarded Spirits, a pioneer of food waste alcohol using banana peels, grape skins, and the fruit of coffee berries to create rum, vermouth, and vodka.

Reframing waste

Pod Pea Vodka admits that it takes a lot of peas to create its spirit, meaning there's a lot of pea pulp left over after the fermentation process. To ensure this nutrient-rich resource doesn't go to waste, the company transforms it into a pea flour for use in pet food. A similar end-of-life is the focus for its cork, which - when synthetic free - will be able to compost naturally and add nutrients back into the soil, completing nature's circle. Ask yourself one question when making design and brand decisions - can your product go back to nature toxin-free? If the answer is no, start again.

Embracing imperfections

Pod Pea Vodka could have insisted that all of its bottles were uniform, as per the industry standard, but doing so would create more waste, lengthen production times, and increase emissions overall. Embracing the imperfections that come with its use of waste materials stands it apart from the competition, offering consumers a visual reminder that its vodka is anything but ordinary. Don't be afraid to go against the grain. Brands that dare to stand out for making conscious choices are building the future consumers are searching for.