Surrounded by the stunning untouched beauty of Golden Bay located at the top of the South Island, it’s no wonder the founders of Dancing Sands Distillery are keen to protect the environment by dramatically reducing their carbon emissions.
Dancing Sands Distillery is the first NZ distillery to move their bottle production to New Zealand*. Founders Sarah and Ben Bonoma were motivated by their love and appreciation for Golden Bay, the distillery’s homeplace.
By moving their bottle production to New Zealand, the business is set to reduce 15,000kg of carbon emissions from its production cycle annually – making a significant impact towards fighting climate change.
Founded in 2016 after Sarah and Ben ditched their corporate jobs in London and New York to embark on an exciting new venture, Dancing Sands quickly became one of New Zealand’s most renowned distilleries.
Sarah says their focus on sustainability is born from a desire to make sure Golden Bay and places like it stay “pristine and beautiful for generations to come”.
The decision to take a leap of faith and shift their bottle production on-shore was made when they began exporting their product to the United Kingdom. Realising their bottles were being imported from Europe, filled in Golden Bay, and then shipped back to their place of origin didn’t make sense to the couple, so Sarah got in touch with New Zealand’s sole glass bottle manufacturer.
This was the beginning of an 18-month endeavour to craft a bespoke glass bottle. Despite this journey being fraught with challenges, the pair remained committed to their vision and dream to do their part for the environment.
“We knew that moving bottle production to New Zealand, and using recycled glass, was the right thing to do, but it has been a long road to bring our goal to fruition with many hurdles along the way,” says Sarah.
Despite the challenges, the sustainable philosophy behind Dancing Sands Distillery has proved to be worthwhile, with their decision resulting in eliminating the equivalent amount of carbon emissions generated by charging a cell phone 1.8 million times.
