Zymurgorium, the first registered distillery in Greater Manchester was awarded the Food and Drink award at the inaugural Made In The North West Awards 2020.

The Made in The North West Awards looks to showcase the quality products and services that manufacturers across the region produce.

Created by Insider Media, after restrictions were imposed due to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, no award ceremony was able to be held, but the winners were still celebrated and accolades announced.

Zymurgorium was awarded the Food and Drink Award, beating off stiff competition from other shortlisted businesses including BBF, Love Raw, Lakeland Artisan and Manchester Gin.

The award win is the icing on the cake for the award-winning local business, which had undertaken rapid expansion plans in 2020.

“Despite everything happening this year, we’re really proud of the steps we’ve taken to move our expansion plans forward, including investing in new state of the art production and bottling facilities. This award means a lot to us as shows we are being recognised as industry leaders who are committed to providing quality products.”Aaron Darke, Managing Director, Zymurgorium 

The Zymurgorium distillery based in Irlam, Greater Manchester, conducts its operations all under one roof including distilling, bottling, warehouse, and office functions, with state-of-the-art production and bottling facilities.

The distillery has the incredible capacity to produce nearly 70 million bottles a year, equating to a staggering 20,000km if laid end-to-end.

The business currently employs 15 members of staff to create its 30 plus alcoholic products which are stocked in John Lewis, Wetherspoons, Greene King, Masters of Malt, Amber Taverns, Selfridges and via a range of wholesalers such as Matthew Clarke and HB Clark.

The business was launched by Aaron Darke in 2013 and has gone on to a multi-million pound investment into the development of a new distillery, state of the art bottling line; whilst developing a range of internal systems including implementation of the SALSA standard and recruitment of a new head of quality.

The Greater Manchester based Zymurgorium distillery have been awarded the standard- a widely recognised accreditation across major retailers.

Zymurgorium, the creator of never before seen gins, liqueurs and rums, successfully completed the SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) standard in 2020, achieving fully compliant status on their audit first time round.

The accreditation was the icing on the cake for the award-winning local business, which had undertaken a rapid expansion plan for the first half of 2020.

The Zymurgorium distillery based in Irlam, Greater Manchester, conducts its operations all under one roof including distilling, bottling, warehouse, and office functions, with state-of-the-art production and bottling facilities.

The distillery has the incredible capacity to produce nearly 70 million bottles a year, equating to a staggering 20,000km if laid end-to-end.

The Salford Business Award winners are also living wage accredited, employing 17 members of staff to create its 30 plus alcoholic products which are stocked in John Lewis, Wetherspoons, Greene King, Masters of Malt, Amber Taverns, Selfridges and via a range of wholesalers such as Matthew Clarke

The business was launched by Aaron Darke in 2013 with a multi-million pound investment into the development of a new distillery, state of the art bottling line; whilst developing a range of internal systems including implementation of the SALSA standard and recruitment of a new head of quality.

SALSA is a food-safety standard required to prove due diligence and originally drew down from the BRC standard. The SALSA certification is only granted to suppliers who are able to demonstrate to an auditor that they are able to produce safe and legal products and are committed to continually meeting the requirements of the SALSA standard with audits occurring every 12 months. The SALSA accreditation is a recognised food certification widely accepted across retailers which will now allow the Zym team to approach larger retailers and other national accounts.

Also looking to create an environmentally sustainable operation, Zymurgorium has successfully saved 156 tonnes of glass to date, following on from switching to an eco-friendly bespoke embossed bottle, with 132 tonnes of CO2 saved in glass consumption. Further investments across the group will see in excess of 1000 Tonnes of CO2 savings banked.

“We’re extremely proud of achieving the SALSA standard and the team have worked hard to make this happen. A whole new way of working has been implemented across our distilling, bottling, warehouse, and office functions in a short period of time. To gain fully compliant the first time round really was the icing on the cake and testament to all the hard work put in.”Jenny Birchall, Head of Quality, Zymurgorium 

Managing director of Zymurgorium, Aaron Darke added:  “We have heavily invested in state of the art production and bottling facilities, so increased capacity and the SALSA accreditation will enable us to reach out into new markets, provide volume and due diligence side by side. We’re having some very interesting conversations at the moment and hope to be able to announce new partnerships very soon.”

Adding further prestige, Zymurgorium was also awarded Silver in the 2020 Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Awards.

The ERS awards encourages employers to support defence and inspire others to do the same. The scheme encompasses bronze, silver and gold awards for employer organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant.

This award is particularly important to the business as many of the staff have personal links to the military with over 42% of the staff connected to the wider military community including reservists and veterans.