SB meets… Carl Churchill, V Rum
The founder and CEO of V Rum took many elements he loved about the spirit – flavour, fun, versatility – and poured them into his own brand, adding British flair, sustainable credentials, and community spirit to boot.
Describe V Rum to our readers.
V Rum is a premium British sustainable rum. We are a business that focuses on bringing the party back to rum. Our objective is to create a mainstream British rum alternative to the mainstays that have been in the on-trade and off-trade for such a long time. We want people to rediscover everything we love about rum but with British slants, and created and manufactured in the UK in a really sustainable way.
What qualities set V Rum apart from other brands?
The sustainability component leads into the British element. We create everything in Southampton; we have a significant distillery there. We can produce more than one million bottles a year. The reason we think our British slant is important from a sustainability angle is because we’re making everything from scratch here, rather than buying in spirit from overseas, or even buying molasses from overseas (we only use British refined molasses). We are even creating our bottles here in the UK. We intend to use 100%-recycled glass bottles as standard; even those are made in Leeds. Ultimately, we are trying to create a sustainable spirit that is British at heart.
Why is sustainability important to build a successful business?
From our perspective, it’s not optional. We have to acknowledge the impact our industry has on the environment. Any responsible business needs to take sustainability seriously in a non-greenwashing way. There’s a lot of that, sadly, in our sector, where businesses feel like they need to have a sustainability agenda, so they sort of fabricate one that loosely feels like they’re trying to do something about it. We take every component of what we do and try to think about the most sustainable way of doing it, but what we’ve done very well so far is tried to strike the balance.
An example of how far we go with this, we’ve just moved box manufacturer to someone that creates the boxes – made from 100%-recycled cardboard – 10 miles from our office. So we’re in a place where even the boxes have got quite a short transport time. If you’re not legitimately thinking about sustainability credentials, you’re not only missing where the market’s going, but you’re missing your responsibility that you have as a good producer. We need to recognise the impact we have and do something about it that isn’t greenwashing, or just offsetting.
Tell us about the charity endeavours that are also important to V Rum.
My wife and I own the business. When we started V Rum, we made a pledge to give 1% of revenue to charity, or £100,000 (US$126,320), whichever is the higher. Our charity partner is Caudwell Children, which helps disabled children. We acknowledge the impact we have on the environment, but also the help we can give to the community around us, and the communities we support.
Which is your favourite product in the V Rum portfolio?
I love our overproof rum. We have a white rum that is 60% [ABV] and I love it because it’s the only overproof rum I’ve been able to really drink neat if I fancied it. Our overproof is incredibly popular in the on-trade. It’s a really nice, strong spirit. We’ve been listed in The Savoy, for example, and they love it because it’s a very strong spirit that tastes really good.
What’s on the horizon for V Rum?
We’ve got a big schedule that we’re releasing: we’ve got cocktail masterclasses, running seminar formats on socials, 15/20 minutes where you can create cocktails with some incredible people who have fantastic expertise.
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