Vodka makes the world go round

What do vodka, hand sanitizer, China and Romania have in common?

The answer, of course, is Kelowna's Forbidden Spirits Distilling Co.

The maker of Rebel Vodka did a wicked pivot during COVID to make Serpent Hand/Surface Sanitizer and then inked deals to sell vodka in China and Romania.

"A lot of it has to do with luck," said Blair Wilson, who owns and operates Forbidden Spirits with his wife, Kelly.

"But we did commit to be agile."

While, maybe not right away.

When the pandemic first hit hard in March, Forbidden Spirits laid off all its staff, except for its distiller.

But within a week, everyone was hired back, and more have been brought on board since, to ride the hand sanitizer wave and prepare for exporting to Asia and Europe.

"Sanitizer is a by-product of distilling, so we started by giving it to people in the community to start and are now selling it to businesses," said Wilson.

The China and Romania opportunities came from a food and beverage show in Germany in October 2019 that the Wilsons attended as part of a Canadian government trade mission.

"During the first hour of the show I went off to get coffees and Kelly was approached by a Romanian and a deal was made right there and then," explained Wilson.

"Our Rebel Vodka is going to be test marketed in 700 Carrefour locations in Romania and if it does well it could end up on shelves in Carrefour's 10,000 stores throughout the European Union."

Carrefour, as you've sensed by now, is a massive chain of grocery stores, department stores and hypermarkets, the term given to the giant combined grocery and department store locations.

The China pact also stems from the show in Germany.

In fact, the Wilsons travelled to China in December 2019 to lay the groundwork for Rebel Vodka to be carried in nine Kunming department stores and more in the future if the vodka catches on.

The vodka is expected to be a hit.

"Made in Canada is a big deal in Asia and Europe because Canadian products are associated with purity and quality and our regulations are so strict in food and beverage that safety and quality are built in," said Wilson.

"We've adjusted our export labelling to make sure the Canadian flag is on the back of the bottle."

Wilson isn't disclosing how much the China and Romania deals are worth, but he refers to them as "significant."

Wilson's road distilling is a winding one.

He was a Vancouver-based serial entrepreneur and chartered accountant who failed at software in the 1980s, owned a chain of successful pizza parlours in Poland called Pan Smak, had a hopping sports bar on Vancouver's Robson Street called Mahoney's and a steakhouse called Wilson's near BC Place Stadium that went bust during a NHL strike.

In the midst of it, Wilson served as a Liberal MP and Canada's first Green MP in the mid-2000s for the riding of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country.

The purchase of an apple orchard in Kelowna was a third attempt at retirement.

But, Wilson's business mind continued to churn and after realizing there's no money in apples, he learned, at a whisky show in Seattle, that fruit can be distilled into value-added spirits.

The flagship Rebel Vodka, made of 100% BC apples, is the result.

It's a favourite at the distillery and tasting room at 4400 Wallace Hill Rd. in East Kelowna and also available at private liquor stores, restaurants, pubs, bars and hotels.

By the way, the Forbidden Spirits name comes from the apple being the prohibited fruit for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The Rebel Vodka, Serpent sanitizer, Forbidden Vodka, Eve's Original Gin and Adam's Apple Brandy branding also all tie into it.

A as-yet-unnamed whisky is in production.