Liviko is best known for its gin brand Crafter’s, which has a reputation in Asia for having one of the most aromatic floral blends as well as a unique pine forest variant.
As with all gins, Crafter’s is made from juniper berries, and instead of discarding these berries after distillation the firm has opted to create a range of beverages made from these leftover berries.
“This was partially because we realised that consumers all over the world, including one of our biggest markets APAC, are now seeking out brands that have a story behind them as well as just something extra to make them special,” Crafter’s Export Marketing Specialist Gloria Hallaste told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“There are many different alcohol brands in the market now, so it has become ever more imperative for us to access this sort of trend, so we decided to create something unique in addition to also tapping on the sustainability trend.
“This is where we came up with the idea of upcycling the juniper berries left over after making our Crafter’s Gin in a few ways – the first was to make cheese with the berries, and another was to make a non-alcoholic soft drink which has the bittersweet flavour of juniper, and helps greatly in ensuring zero waste operations.
“We also made juniper berry beer with 3.2% ABV – this was created by further fermenting the by-product of the gin distillation, and has a bitter, woody taste. Both of these drinks fall under the Re-crafted Crafter’s Junibeer range, and in total we are reusing 80% of Crafter’s gin plant-based ingredients.”
In addition to the upcycled range, Liviko also brought in an aperitif product named Corsaro in order to meet demands for more low-alcohol and alcohol-free products.
“Crafter’s Gin is one of our most popular products, but there can be no doubt that there is also a trend today where consumers are looking for alcohol-free alternatives as well,” she added.
“This is why we brought in the aperitif Corsaro Aperitivo, which is made with rowan berries and cranberries as well as a range of spices, giving it a sweet and bitter combination of tastes which are balanced with citrus.
“The whole point of this product is to cater to consumers that have a preference for cocktails but not necessarily for large amounts of alcohol, as the taste can more than make up for the lack of it – this has already won the Best Non-Alcoholic Drink award in the Estonia’s Best Drink competition for two years running in 2022 and 2023.”
More innovations coming
Although the firm plans to bring in more alcohol-free developments and new product formats moving forward, Hallaste also emphasised that Liviko will not be giving up on its conventional hard liquor portfolio.
“There are consumers looking for all sorts of alcoholic products, and there is no doubt we have good brands on hand already like Crafter’s and Vana Talinn rum-based liqueur,” she said.
“We have in fact already brought in another product, the Hobe silver-filtered vodka, which goes through a three-stage cascade filtration process, first through a charcoal filter, then a system of 29 silver filters, and finally a polishing filter.
“This gives the Hõbe Vodka an extremely smooth and soft taste, and it has an alcohol content of precisely 39.2% vol, which ensures the best balance between aroma and crisp taste.”
Liviko products are available in 70 markets worldwide across both travel retail, domestic retail and foodservice.
