Drink up to help out: The gin raising funds for hospitality
Even with the lifting of the second national lockdown enabling some bars and pubs to reopen this week, hospitality remains one of the sectors worst affected by Covid restrictions.
Hospitality Gin is a not-for-profit gin brand created to support the industry during the pandemic, offering the drinking public the opportunity to order in to help out.
Hospitality Gin is a traditional London dry gin, produced by the Cooper King Distillery in North Yorkshire. It has a strong juniper base, with notes of honey, cardamom, lemongrass, and locally grown lavender, with a healthy 42% ABV.
All of the profits from its sale go to help the UK hospitality industry, with most of the proceeds going to established charities The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action. For those of us that enjoy drinking, and want to ensure that a vibrant bar scene can bounce back when normality is restored, getting some gin is a simple and pleasurable way to offer our support.
Before the pandemic, hospitality was Britain’s third-biggest industry, employing around 3m. But now, many bar staff are experiencing serious financial difficulties as a result of the limits that have been placed on their ability to earn a living.
Government support for the sector has been inadequate and the imposition of new rules – such as the requirement for pubs in tier 2 only to serve alcohol alongside a substantial meal – are not making things any easier.
Hospitality Gin is the brainchild of Tom Lord, a Sheffield-based hospitality consultant with a decade’s experience. Back in March, he was quick to realise the problems confronting the sector, and equally quick to respond; it was just 55 days from the original idea for Hospitality Gin, to the first bottles being delivered to customers. The original batch was paid for with a start-up loan for a business that Lord was forced to shelve because of the lockdown.
After the first order, there was no money left for marketing so everything had to be managed on a shoestring. But demand has built steadily, and now several editions of Hospitality Gin have been produced. At the end of last month the range expanded, with the introduction of an exotic pineapple and pepper gin (flavoured with juicy pineapple, fresh green bell peppers and floral pink peppercorns), the first in a new “bartender series” intended to encourage more creative drink-making.
Help hospitality workers by helping yourself to a bottle of Hospitality Gin: https://hospitalitygin.co.uk/collections/view-all-products