Powerful Partnerships: Sapling Spirits x Levy

Award-winning British Gin and Vodka from Sapling Spirits is rolling out across Levy - helping support biodiversity and reducing carbon impact of their drinks.    

“Our mantra is the right trees in the right places,” says Ed Faulkner, Co-Founder of Sapling Spirits, which plants a tree for every bottle of its gin and vodka sold.     

Today, the ‘right’ trees’ are apple trees and include a James Grieve, (first cultivated in Scotland in 1893), an 'aromatic' Ribston Pippin (popular in Victorian times) and Ashmead's Kernel, a dessert apple variety that originated in Gloucester around 1700.     

The ‘right place’ is agroforestry land on the Biohub, Levy’s co-sponsored regenerative Research and Development farm in North Yorkshire, where the focus is on biodiversity net gains, carbon sequestration and decarbonisation. 

And the reason? A celebration of Sapling’s new partnership with Levy announced in October last year, which has seen its award-winning vodkas and gins made with British wheat roll out in Levy’s hospitality and retail spaces from including Chelsea Football Club, Newmarket Racecourse, QEII London and Wembley Arena.    

The two-year-old saplings being planted by Levy employees and the team from Sapling on this North Yorkshire hillside have been chosen specifically to benefit the complex eco system on the Biohub, serving to improve soil health, improve biodiversity, as it “transitions to a more sustainable, multifunctional landscape,” says Vincent Walsh, Levy’s newly appointed Director of Decarbonisation, who is overseeing the planting.  

“We know that historically, apples have been grown in Yorkshire. So, we’re trying to work out what are the best apples to grow in this landscape.”   

This is just part of that partnership that works so well with Sapling because planting trees is Sapling’s raison d’etre.     

“We're a big reforestation project, with a community building ethos,” explains Faulkner of the 2018 founded brand first born in his parents’ shed in Peckham, and “created to lead the way with sustainability in the drinks industry, tackle climate change, and make world class spirits”. 

With around 40 tree planting projects from Scotland to Devon, Sapling – which is also a B-Corp - is closing in on planting their 500,000th tree as well as creating other nature projects such as a nuttery for a hotel kitchen and a forest garden intended to create a hyper local supply chain.  

But it was the ecoboxes Sapling use to supply 75 % of their spirits (which are used to refill its glass bottles) which initially caught Levy’s eye.    

“We showed in a granular way, what happens from a carbon accounting perspective, when you remove glass from the Spirit supply chain,” says Faulkner, of the showcase where Sapling was among potential new suppliers invited to show how their products might help to decarbonise Levy’s supply chain. “But it came with a commercial saving,” he adds, “which can be unusual for a sustainable option.”     

“Sapling’s reforestation projects align with how Levy views sustainability: that it’s not just about decarbonisation but must be seen through a more holistic lens of environment, nature and health,” says Kevin Watson, Levy Director of Sustainability.    

“Their use of British wheat also aligns with our support of British regenerative farmers and suppliers. But it’s also a fantastic product that tastes great – which is crucial for Levy’s standard of food and drink,” he says of the range which includes a raspberry hibiscus vodka made using organic wonky raspberries.    

Sapling, who have been rigorous with their LCAs to measure the carbon impact of their products (switching from their 70cl bottle to the 5L bag in a box reduces a bar’s carbon footprint by 37%) say they are delighted to be involved with Levy – a business they say aligns with their own sustainability focus.   

“It just shows how seriously they take sustainability. I don’t think we have any other partners the size of Levy who take sustainability so seriously.”    

The apple trees planted this year will hopefully go on to produce apples for Levy’s culinary team to experiment with new dishes. Last year, an initial crop of Biohub-grown apples were used in desserts served at Levy partner Burnley Football Club.     

Faulkner, meanwhile, is reflecting on the scale of impact this partnership brings, as he pushes the heavy clay soil into around the last of the delicate saplings, before adding straw to bed it in against the cold. 

 “With someone like Levy, if we do something good, it's going to have much more of an impact,” he says. So, we have a bigger responsibility to make sure that we work together with and create the biggest impact we can.”  

“We like planting fruit trees as they have additional benefits such as providing foraging opportunities and creating local supply chains for our customers. “It's been a really great partnership,” he adds smiling. “Who knows, this might be the start of a Levy forest.”