Sales flow as Joe leads his craft distillery on a journey to zero waste

Preserving the delicate environment of his beloved Fermanagh is seldom far from the thoughts of successful businessman Joe McGirr, the entrepreneurial founder and managing director of Boatyard Distillery.

He’s a real son of the soil who has carried his passion for the beautiful county’s environment from his upbringing on the family farm and harvesting turf on the bog land into what has become one of Ireland’s most successful distillers of a unique double gin and vodka. A single malt whiskey is also maturing in casks at the small distillery which overlooks the stunning Lough Erne.

As a result of this dedication, the craft distillery now has an impressive reputation as an environmentally-friendly business and one which has taken some major steps towards a significant reduction of any impact on Northern Ireland’s shimmering blue Lough Erne. Jos is on a journey to the worthy objective of a zero waste business.

The craft enterprise, which uses only organic wheat in distilling its spirits, has a simple ethos which is to “create award winning spirits from raw local ingredients”.

These ingredients include local botanicals such Fermanagh’s Sweet Gale, a wild herb that grows abundantly in the county’s bog lands. Boatyard is a small business with a sharp farm-to-bottle focus.

The distillery’s quest to become more environmentally friendly has accelerated over the past 12 months, Joe continues.

“We are working towards the huge challenge of being totally plastic-free in the near future. For instance, we have started using new, environmentally-friendly packaging. Our new protective sleeve for bottles is an excellent example because not only does it provide great protection but it is plastic-free, paper-based, reusable, recyclable and biodegradable,” he adds.

“The planet is changing and we all must change too. This is just one small step of many we will be implementing over the months and years ahead to reduce our carbon footprint and help to combat global warming. Like a certain president’s hair, you just can’t comb over climate change. We just cannot afford to ignore it.”

The recycling drive is also contributing to the development of original products that are helping the business prosper especially in exports.

“We are now using some of our by-products to make an original bean-to-bar chocolate from cocoa sourced from a single estate in South America and use only recyclable shrink wrap on all pallets.”

Spent grain from the distilling process is recycled into a rich feed mix for cows on the family farm. Joe describes the cows as the “happiest in Ireland”.

The old boatyard, where the distillery and its shiny copper stills are based, was transformed sensitively by Joe and his team to avoid any adverse impact on the picturesque lough it overlooks. It has become an immensely popular attraction especially with visitors from abroad.

“I wanted to bring a sense of place to our spirits. My aim has been to capture and bottle the real essence of Fermanagh, a destination that would also appeal to visitors to our wonderful county,” he continues.

Joe gained initial experience in catering during a short stint working in a restaurant in Enniskillen and then decided to pursue a career in Britain that included senior management posts in distilling there. His enduring love of his native county led him to return and to develop the first working distillery there in 130 years.

Boosted by backing from business development agency Invest Northern Ireland, the enterprising company has also recently received a £460,000 from the Halo Business Angel Network for its continuing growth through product innovation and sales especially beyond Northern Ireland.

An important endorsement of the quality of his products came recently from Waitrose and Partners, the upmarket food store, which has almost 350 supermarkets and convenience stores in Britain. Waitrose is now selling the gin in its supermarkets and online. And Joe hopes the prestigious retailer will also include his products in its stores in 60 companies worldwide.

“We’re delighted to bring our Boatyard Double gin to Waitrose and make it more accessible around Britain for people there to taste and try. We agonise over the detail that goes into making our gin and it’s fantastic to see it being enjoyed far and wide. Waitrose has been influential in taking the craft gin revolution mainstream and prides itself on the quality of the brands it works with,” he says.

Boatyard’s developing portfolio of clients in Britain also includes Marks & Spencer, Harrods and the Savoy Hotel’s internationally renowned American Bar in London.

“Boatyard Double Gin is very special as the organically produced wheat spirit goes through a double contact distillation process for a more pronounced flavour,” Joe explains. “This is why we named it a double gin.  It is then infused and distilled with sweet gale and along juniper and five other botanicals for a very distinctive taste.”

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