Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee distillery Verdant Gin wins contract to supply drink to House of Commons

Scott McCallum of Avian and Andrew Mackenzie of Verdant Spirits.
Scott McCallum of Avian and Andrew Mackenzie of Verdant Spirits.

A Dundee distillery is toasting success after securing the contract to supply a special edition gin to the House of Commons.

Verdant Spirits hopes the prestigious contract will allow the firm to increase its market share in the rest of the UK, as well as boosting interest in the company’s latest fundraising round.

The firm is currently courting outside investment of around six figures, ideally from investors with marketing experience – with the firm promising a good return.

The award follows a tendering process from the House of Commons, which involved an initial written submission for the first round, leaving a shortlist of just five.

A presentation and blind taste test followed, with Verdant coming out on top, leaving the firm to become the sole supplier of a House of Commons Gin for the next year, with a possible extension of a further two years.

Bespoke boxed packaging was created, replacing Verdant’s original graphics with a specially designed House of Commons treatment.

Andrew Mackenzie, founder and managing director at Verdant, said: “This is terrific exposure which will see our product co-branded with House of Commons branding.

“This is a very collaborative project, and we will be making regular trips to Westminster to deliver expert training, tastings and pairings for the House of Commons team and members.”

Mr Mackenzie believes the contract highlights the quality of his product and will make it easier to approach distributors, especially in the important London market.

He said: “I have little doubt that distributors get calls every day from distilleries saying they have a fantastic gin on offer, but having our product on sale in the House of Commons really sets us apart.”

The product sold in Westminster is the same recipe as the Verdant Dry Gin which took two years to research and finesse.

The unique packaging was designed by Broughty Ferry based design and brand consultancy, Avian.

Scott McCallum, Avian managing director, said: “By creating an entirely new label and specialised packaging solely for the House of Commons, we retained the integrity of both the Verdant Spirits brand and the historic House of Commons identity, whilst also creating shelf appeal.”

Verdant is currently exploring opportunities for other high quality Scottish spirits, with a pre-Christmas launch of a new product in the pipeline.

jimillar@thecourier.co.uk