Vikre Distillery: Sustainable Businesses in Duluth

 

A picture of a cocktail made with Vikre gin next to traditional Scandinavian horse carvings.

    Our class had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Emily Vikre, co-founder of Vikre Distillery, this past Sunday. Dr. Vikre and her husband started Vikre Distillery with the intent to create the first sustainable distillery in Duluth, Minnesota. Dr. Vikre and her husband have been dedicated to their company and turned it into a zero-waste company that follows the triple bottom line model: Vikre Distillery is committed to the people, the planet, and profit together. 

    What intrigued me most about their company was how they dealt with acquiring local ingredients in Duluth while also trying to maintain the identity of the liquors they produce. Something that is very important to the Vikre's is that the ingredients they use should be unique and characteristic of not just the Scandinavian tradition they are following, but also the products that grow naturally and sustainably in Duluth. Their most distinctive boreal gin line incorporates botanicals that are found in the Northwoods around Duluth. While this adds character to their gin, it isn't possible for them to source all of the necessary ingredients for their liquors just by foraging and producing in Minnesota. Dr. Vikre talked about the struggle between maintaining the traditional identity of their gin while trying to use only local ingredients. The citrus flavor that is distinctive in these liquors can be added to with botanicals that have citrus notes to them, but Minnesota does not produce the citrus products that are such a core part of the flavor and they could not source only from Duluth and still maintain the identity of the product that they find so important. 

    I think this reflects a core issue for sustainable food producers that are trying to produce a traditional product in a place where the climate doesn't make it possible to grow all of the requisite ingredients locally. There are ingredients that are tied to regions beyond your own and I think that the mix of locations of ingredients can sometimes reflect the course of human trade and migration. I think the Vikre's have found something that works for their company and values and I look forward to seeing how they continue to steer the frontier of distilleries in Minnesota.