A WELL-KNOWN local distillery has proved that being green and sustainable makes good business sense as it extends listings in Co-op, Liberty and Morrisons.

Barton-le-Willows based Sloemotion is a craft distiller and liqueur producer who supply to farm shops, delis and garden centres around the UK alongside retailers such as Waitrose, Booths, Co-Op and Majestic Wines.

The company develop and distil their range of Hedgerow Spirits, including Hedgerow Gin and Hedgerow Botanical Vodka over the past few years; with their sloe gin and bramble whisky liqueurs becoming best sellers.

March is B-Corp Month celebrating the highest standards of social and environmental performance and the business is further cementing its green-credentials by being approved to start its very own B-Corp certification bid. The process will look at five different categories: governance, workers, customers, community and the environment.

Managing director Phil Dibbs said: “Consumers are increasingly hunting down products with strong environmental credentials, and we’ve certainly benefitted from this. We were ‘green’ long before it became trendy, and we are always looking at new ways to reduce our environmental impacts. Already this year we moved all our bottle supply to Leeds, just down the road from us and changed our Finders range to recycled glass. Our passion for environmental and ethical distilling has paid dividends with increased listings with retailers so, starting our B Corp certification journey is the obvious next step.”

This focus on sustainability and protecting the countryside has helped the business secure and extend listings for both its Hedgerow and Finders Spirits ranges in supermarkets and retailers; Co-op, Morrisons, Booths and Liberty.

The business was started began 20 years ago by Joff Curtoys when a farming initiative to improve wildlife resulted in an abundance of sloes. For Joff, who grew up sipping his father’s Sloe Gin, a seed of an idea was sown to turn the bounty of fruit into a business that would also support the biodiversity goals of its founders.

Joff, who sits on the Castle Howard Rewilding and Conversation Advisory Committee, has also created species-rich mini meadows around the company buildings and continues to work with the land manager at Green Farm creating wildlife habitats, including wild bird feed crops and woodland.

Sloemotion begins the rigorous B Corp accreditation process this Spring. To achieve the B Corp certification a company’s performance is assessed on a points system and measured against five categories. Less than 5,000 businesses in the world have been certified to date.

Their products are stocked in 35 Co-Op Group stores alongside, new listings for Finders in Liberty, nine Morrisons stores in Yorkshire, Booths, Berry Brothers & Rudd and 350 farm shops, food hall, garden centres and delis across the UK.