Business context
• Sector: food and beverage / health products
• Location: Puhoi, north of Auckland
• Scale: small family business with about 80 products
The challenge
Alex and Iryna Kirichuk arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2002 wanting to build a business that was good for people’s health and the environment. Alex had trained as a nuclear power plant engineer in the USSR and worked as a state safety inspector. He says witnessing and surviving the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 directed him down the path of environmental sustainability.
The couple's original business plan was to make dietary supplements using alcohol-based remedies. But when they looked for the pure, food-grade ethanol they needed, they couldn’t find it here. That gap became the business.
The challenge wasn’t just technical. It was also financial. When Alex and Iryna sought support for their solar and electrification plans, their bank refused. Without a mortgage, they couldn’t qualify for a green loan so they funded everything themselves.
What changed?
After 11 years of research and development on their Puhoi property, the distillery opened commercially in October 2015. It was designed to be 100% sustainable from the outset. That meant testing distillation methods, drilling an artesian bore for water supply and establishing what would become a two-acre botanical garden growing ingredients on-site.
Gin quickly became one of the distillery's signature products. The range now includes six gins, all made with natural botanicals grown on-site or sourced locally. The business started importing and selling caviar from Ukraine two years ago.
The electrification of the operation followed in stages. In 2018, they installed two solar systems on the distillery roof in partnership with SolarCity and Ecotricity. This made it the first solar-powered distillery in Aotearoa New Zealand and, Alex believes, the world.
A Tesla electric vehicle (EV) charger for customers came in 2019, followed by a universal EV charger in 2020. In 2022, the business purchased a fully electric delivery vehicle, completing the move to zero-emission operations. All electricity is either generated on-site by solar or drawn from Ecotricity, which supplies only renewable energy.
The distillery also uses gravity-flow processing throughout. There are no pumps. Once alcohol is distilled, it moves by gravity through filters and into tanks. This cuts energy use and protects the quality of the product. Alex believes the business is the only gravity-flow distillery in the world.
Water comes from a 221-metre artesian bore drilled on-site in 2010. Independent testing confirms the water is 8,000 years old. Wastewater is treated through a modern septic system and used to irrigate the botanical garden. The family home on the same site also runs on solar power.
Results so far
Since installing its solar systems in June 2018, the distillery has avoided more than 8,200 kilogrammes of carbon emissions, tracked monthly via Ecotricity’s reporting. In its first 18 months, the delivery EV covered 26,000km on solar-generated electricity alone.
The commercial results have matched with the business winning numerous awards for its products. In 2023, it won the Excellence in Sustainability Award at the 2degrees Auckland Business Awards.
Key outcomes:
• 8,266 kg of carbon emissions avoided since June 2018
• 41,000 km of zero-emission deliveries
• Two solar systems powering the distillery, home, and EV charging since 2018
• Two on-site EV chargers, Tesla and universal, free for visitors
• 221-metre artesian bore supplying all water needs on-site
• Zero-emission operations across production and delivery since 2022
What’s next?
Alex and Iryna say the business doesn’t need to grow in the conventional sense. The model is self-sufficient by design. As they live on-site, there are no commuting costs. There are no costs for rent, water or petrol, minimal electricity costs and no employees. Their daughter Victoria, a perfumer who manages the distillery’s PR, helps part-time.
What Alex wants is to share the model. He’s open to consulting with businesses looking to make the shift to sustainable operations and he talks about a future farm that could demonstrate sustainable production at scale.
People think being eco-friendly and sustainable costs money and requires major change. That's true. But once you achieve it, it helps you survive without petrol, with our own electricity. And it helps our planet survive.”
Alex Kirichuk