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Kelly Caul is a familiar face around The Absolut Company’s head office in Stockholm. No wonder – her job is to foster an inspiring and inclusive company culture and that means being in close contact with all different areas within the company. Her job, she says, demands that she’s a ‘people person’ and constantly look to change things in order to improve. And changes are nothing new to Kelly – it’s what she lives for and thrives on.

“I just thought ‘what the heck’ and packed my husband and kids to go live in Stockholm.” Kelly seems more relaxed to the idea of moving and bringing her family to an entirely new country than most people you come across.
 
Born in the UK and having lived in Ireland for the last 12 years, working for the sister company Irish Distillers, Kelly joined TAC to look after internal communications and culture change within the company more than 2 years ago.
 
“I’ve been here a couple of years now, but I’m a change agent first and foremost and any culture change takes at least five years. However, after that job is done, it’s usually time for me to move on and pass on to someone else who has a new approach and new ideas. I think I work best to initiate and implement change rather than maintaining the status quo.”

Two years at TAC. Are you ready to move on already?

“No, I’m not done here yet. You have to remember that it’s only been ten years since the acquisition by Pernod Ricard, and in culture terms that’s not a very long time. I still think this is a really good place to work, but there are always things we can do to improve and develop the great culture here even further.”

And what’s the company culture like today? What characterizes a TAC employee?

“What’s really special about this place is that people are so proud of the products we work with.  The fact that all our Absolut Vodka comes from the One Source – that everything is made in the tiny village of Åhus and exported around the world – is very much part of that.”
 
In one of Absolut Vodka’s most recent campaigns, 20 employees appeared naked in front of a camera to show the world that it’s ‘The Vodka with Nothing to Hide’.
 
“People are so proud of our approach to sustainability. Over 20 employees got naked just to prove that they stand by Absolut’s message and that they believe in the product. At which other company would you see that passion? I think that if we were to shoot the film again, hundreds of people would show up.”
 
Kelly explains that, however creative and ‘out there’ that campaign may seem, people at The Absolut Company still have an intellectual approach to things:
 

They really want to understand the reason behind what you’re doing. More so here than in any other company I’ve worked for.

Is that something you can relate to?

“I have to admit that when I first joined the company, it was tough. Like a lot of people, I had preconceived notions about Swedes and Swedish culture. Swedes generally are a bit more reserved and introverted than what I’m used to having worked in Ireland and the UK. They tend to give things a bit more time before they decide on how to act. They go through different scenarios and make up their minds before building a case, rather than starting a discussion right away. So my initial reaction was ‘How on earth am I going to be able to unlock this and understand people?’.”

How did you deal with that?

“Right from the start, I decided to the only way to understand what it felt to be an employee of TAC was to talk to people. In total, I think I interviewed around 60 people just to understand what made them proud, what were the great things about working at TAC and – of course – what would they change if they could. Through that process, I could also see what the strengths of the organization were and what we could do to improve. This was really helpful for me, not only in order to get to know the company culture, but also for me personally – to get to know the mindset of the people here.”

Although she’s been working with internal communication and company culture for over 15 years, Kelly’s career path was never set in stone. She started out as a journalist in her twenties and soon found herself working in PR. She worked for some of the biggest agencies in London, working with media relations. But as time went on, she eventually got bored:
 
“I wanted to see, and be part of, some real change. After having worked as a journalist, PR just became boring for me after a while. Perhaps a bit too easy, I think. I wanted a new challenge.”
 
After a few years in PR, Kelly was asked to take on a transformation project for a large company. Following an acquisition, the new owners wanted to see a full organizational and cultural change. Over the course of an 18 months period, Kelly’s job was to handle the communication regarding the overhaul, both internally and externally.
 
“It was amazing! The frustration for me working in Public Relations was that you were always a bit removed from the client. You never got the chance to see what impact you made, or at least were trying to make. So naturally I enjoyed being in the middle of such a large project, unlocking employees’ engagement and proving that great culture and communications can transform a business and have a big impact on the bottom line.”
 
After that project was finished, she started working for Irish Distillers to look after the company’s internal communications.
 
“It was a six-month contract, and it was the first time they have ever had anyone in that role”.

I think I interviewed around 60 people just to understand what made them proud, what were the great things about working at TAC.

Wow, only six months? That’s not a lot of time to make an impact?

“Haha, exactly. Yet here I am, eight years later, still working in the same role within Pernod Ricard. Anyway, working at Irish Distillers was great! I worked closely with Anna Malmhake (then-CEO of Irish Distillers and present-day CEO at The Absolut Company) and she gave me much freedom and trusted me to start new initiatives that could lead to a great company culture.”

Is that why you followed Anna when she moved to Stockholm for the role as CEO of The Absolut Company?

“Yes, that’s very much part of the equation. Having a CEO and Leadership Team who believes in what you are doing, are willing to support you when you are in the midst of change and most importantly, willing to ‘walk the talk’ themselves as leaders is imperative for the success of what we are trying to achieve.”
 
“I appreciate how lucky I am to work for a company like The Absolut Company and our parent company, Pernod Ricard. Since I joined the group, I have freedom to explore and to create. I have been empowered to try new things with the focus always on making a positive impact on our employees’ experience at TAC.”
 
“For me, that’s what a great place to work is all about and I could ask for no more than I have here in The Absolut Company Pernod Ricard.”

Growing up in South Africa during the end of the apartheid regime made Charl recognize the importance of change and social justice. As the son of two Lebanese immigrants, he also embodies the multiculturalism that has characterized the country for decades. In January, he will become Vice President Global Marketing at Absolut, which means he will leave his beloved home country for Stockholm, Sweden. In his mind though, he’s still just a farm boy who stumbled upon a career in finance and eventually found his true calling in marketing. 

You grew up on a farm in South Africa with two parents of Lebanese decent. How did you end up here in Stockholm?

My family is very much a product of the post-World War 2 world, with parents who want to give their children the opportunities they never had. So, for my parents – especially given I was the only child – it was important that I got a good education. So they ended up selling the farm and moving to the city, just for me to get that opportunity. 

During that time – this was in the late 80’s, early 90’s – you were encouraged to become a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or an engineer if you did well in school. And I of course didn’t want to let my parents down, so I studied really hard. Eventually, I decided to become an engineer, because I thought that designing things that could make the world a better place was a good way to contribute to society. 

I decided to become an engineer, because I thought that designing things that could make the world a better place was a good way to contribute to society.

You finished school right at the end of the apartheid regime. That must have had a big influence on your life? 

Yes, it really had. I went to a university called the University of the Witwatersrand, which was called the “communist university” at that time. It was given that name mostly because it was a bit left-leaning in a country that was in fact fascist. Anyway, it was there I discovered the reality of South Africa. I became aware of what was going on in my own country. 

I got interested in social involvement and in student politics, and just trying to make life at campus better for everyone, regardless of race. I think the one thing I’m most proud of from back then is leading a transformation team, which aimed at integrating – for the first time in South Africa – black and white students at the university. Looking back now I realize that it was sort of a big deal and that the stakes were higher than I initially thought. I actually received some death threats because of that work.

Has your commitment for social involvement been present throughout your life, despite that experience?

I think so, but my life and career hasn’t exactly followed a straight path. When I finished school, I tried my luck in lots of different industries but soon ended up being a production manager at a large company in South Africa. I worked down in the factory with 50 employees from different tribes and worked really hard to get everyone to work together.
 
Then, once the apartheid regime fell, the sanctions against South Africa were lifted and foreign companies started setting up in the country. It meant I had lots of more opportunities. One thing led to another and soon I was in London, working in finance. When I was 27 years old I was asked to do evaluations of dot-com companies right at the height of the bubble. When I look back, I often say there’s no wonder the bubble burst given how much trust I was given as 27 year-old to evaluate those multi-billion dollar companies. Anyway, it was a crazy time and I had much fun, but it was hard for me to feel at home there, because I still saw myself as a farm boy. And I still think of myself as that today.

So you went back to South Africa?

Yes, two years later I went back looking for a new job. I found one in the beverage industry, as an assistant to the chairman of one of the country’s largest beverage producers. My boss, the chairman, soon became like a mentor to me, giving me advice on everything from life to work. But when the company was eventually bought by an American giant, he moved to the US and I was left with an important decision to make. 
 
In order to integrate more into the company, I could either choose between mergers and acquisitions or marketing. My boss was this really old-fashioned man, with a huge mustache, always with a cigarette in his hand. He said to me in his typical South African accent: “Charlie ma’ boy, when you’re in acquisitions and mergers, you’re a hunter. You kill the animal and you can feed your family for a week. When you’re in marketing, you’re a farmer. You sow the seeds, wait for the rain and nurture the ground. And then after a year, when you harvest, you can feed the village for a whole year.” He paused for effect, and then continued: “Ma’ boy, you’re a very sensitive guy. You’re more a farmer than a hunter.” And of course, he was absolutely right – not only in the literal sense.

When you’re in marketing, you’re a farmer. You sow the seeds, wait for the rain and nurture the ground. And then after a year, when you harvest, you can feed the village for a whole year.

So, a small-town farm boy discovers farming in a different way – a sort of 21st century farming. That is why I love this ‘game’ of marketing. The rain doesn’t always fall when you want it to, and sometimes your ‘crops’ get diseases. But when you understand how to do it properly, and you’re building brands sustainably, you’re feeding villages.
 
Things really took off from there and the last five years I’ve spent as a Marketing Director at Pernod Ricard, building a team from nine people to forty-two – working really hard to find good people to elevate the brand. 

So how do you plan to cultivate the Absolut brand as VP Global Marketing?

I still have a farm boy’s perspective. And it’s always been about building teams and building people who can really make the brand flourish. But first and foremost, my job will be to really understand what’s making the brand work across the globe. Although I’m still in the listening phase, I know what’s really working. It’s putting consumers at the heart of everything, which I know the team here in Stockholm understands really well. They want to push boundaries on how you connect with consumers on an emotional level, in a relevant way. 
 
As a philosophy, I really do believe that we as humans have two objectives – to be brave, and to be kind. Being brave because we need to push boundaries to move forward. To continue the farming analogy – a brave farmer removes rocks from the land to make space for new areas to cultivate and room for new crops to grow. Being kind is all about being able to communicate on a more real level. I really think you can make the world a better place by being kind.

Sandra Johansson works and lives in Stockholm. The last three months, however, she’s spent in Dubai as part of the Pernod Ricard Group exchange program Talent 4 Talent. The program has been dubbed ‘a Tinder for your career’ because of its simple design: two colleagues in two different countries find a match within the group – basically it’s two people who are willing to give each other’s jobs a try. This way, they get the experience of working abroad early on in their career and can share best-practices.

Sandra found her match in Dubai, but she knew little about what to expect when arriving at her new desk three months ago. We managed to get hold of Sandra on a Friday afternoon, to learn more about her experience.

Today is Friday. Why aren’t you at work?

“Actually, here in Dubai the working week starts Sunday and ends Thursday, so Fridays are off. That felt weird at first, but I’m used to it now. It’s still a bit disheartening scrolling through Instagram on a Saturday night, though. You see all your friends back home in Sweden out having fun and you know you have to get up early the next day and go to work.” 

Speaking about your job – What are you working with in Dubai?

“I work as a Customer Service Executive for Pernod Ricard Gulf. I basically handle the order process to make sure I satisfy my customers’ needs.
In Stockholm, I handle only intercompany customers, so a big part of why I wanted to make an exchange specifically with one of the Market Companies within the group is because I wanted to get a better grip on what it’s like working closer to the end-customers.”

Was Dubai your first choice?

“I actually had no first choice, but I knew I wanted to work in a country whose culture differs quite a lot from the Swedish, so Europe was excluded from my wish-list at least.

Anyway, the exchange program Talent 4 Talent works in such a way that it tries to match two persons’ preferences. And when I found out I had a match with someone in Dubai, I was a bit hesitant at first. I thought it would be a more conservative place than it turned out to be. But it’s been a superb match – the job is challenging in a good way, and it’s really exciting to live here with so many cultures in one place. For example, with our office of only 35 employees I think we are from 10 or 12 different countries.

What’s different in Dubai?

“The first thing that comes in mind is the climate, when I arrived here in August it was 50-55 degrees Celsius, which was a chock for me. The first two weeks I had to just try to figure out how to survive outside longer than ten seconds and I have never in my life longed so much for November as this year (everyone is trying to convince me it will be manageable by then). I think no Swede has ever longed for November. 

With the knowledge of the region having stricter laws and regulations of alcohol than Sweden I must say moving here and going out for dinner has been different, since many of the restaurants are not allowed to serve alcohol. But my perception of that has only been positive, as they serve great juices and innovative mocktails instead. At the same time, in places serving alcohol you can really see and taste the quality and crafts behind the drinks you order, which makes me feel proud working within the industry, and I think many places in Sweden could follow their example.

Personally, it’s been the scariest – and at the same time most developing – time of my life. When I got here, it quickly hit me that my family and friends are miles away and I had to quickly make new friends in order to not get homesick. And being more of an introvert person, I had to challenge myself and reach out to people via different channels.”

Besides learning more about the culture here in Dubai, I have had some of the most intense and interesting discussions with people from all over the world whilst living here.

Dubai is famous for being a melting pot of different cultures. Has that been a positive or a negative?

“For me it’s definitely been positive. Besides learning more about the culture here in Dubai, I have had some of the most intense and interesting discussions with people from all over the world whilst living here. As an example, I started hanging out with a group of South American friends, which also gave me an opportunity to practice my Spanish. I also have a few colleagues from India, and during our lunches we’ve had some deep conversations on topics such as religion, life and culture – some which have been really eye-opening, but also some where we have agreed to disagree. And I have never eaten as much Indian food as often as I do now, since moving here. 

Would you recommend this program to colleagues?

Definitely! It benefits both the companies, the people exchanging jobs and the people they meet. I recommend more companies to take after this program.

A chat about sustainability with Josephine Sondlo bartender at Bar Homage in Stockholm.

In May of 2017 she was announced as being the number one bartender in Scandinavia and later that year she placed herself in the 7th place of the best bartenders in the world during the Word Class Competition in Mexico City. Today she lets us know that the most exciting thing about sustainability is that it forces you to be creative and to innovate.

Why did you decide to become a bartender?

“It wasn’t really a decision (except from maybe watching the movie cocktail as a kid and thinking ‘I want to do that’) as much as stumbling across the profession by chance. I needed a job after I quit school, started as a barback without really knowing what the position entailed or even what I was supposed to do. I guess I’m a quick learner and I’m really, really competitive, so I decided to get as good at barbacking as anyone could be (to this day I’m still a better barback than a bartender, I think). As I did, I started to get an understanding of how the bar worked, my curiosity grew and the rest is, as they say, history”.

At the World Class competition in Mexico she made her cocktail out of leftovers from the hotel breakfast; discarded tea bags, fruit, fruit peel and carbonated yoghurt. Getting this good at coming up with new uses of what someone else would consider trash doesn’t just happen over a night. It’s something that is worked into everything she does.

“I try to rethink my use of ingredients, seeing how far I can stretch every part of every ingredient I put into a drink. Nothing that doesn’t have to be thrown out gets thrown out until I’ve exhausted every possible way that item can be used. For example: if I use egg-whites for sours the egg-yolks go into the kitchen, or get cured with soy and in turn become flips, the shells can be saved and used to clean bottles or go into the compost to adjust the PH. The leftover fibres from pressing ginger becomes fermented into a ginger-bug. And so on and so forth. I really enjoy playing with the notion that the things we discard are just ingredients and flavours we haven’t yet found a use for”.

I really enjoy playing with the notion that the things we discard are just ingredients and flavours we haven’t yet found a use for

It seems like a whole lot of effort in an already busy line of work. Why is reducing waste so important to you?

“Because it is a no-brainer. We have one planet with limited, exhaustible resources – try as we might to deny or disregard it because it feels good to go on vacation or have that new iPhone – and that is a fact. Seeing as landfill and the food waste that goes into it is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, I would be an idiot not to think it important to decrease waste. The amount of energy and pollution that goes into producing the food we so readily waste comes at a VERY high prize, and it makes no sense to produce as much unnecessary waste as we do”.

What keeps you motivated?

“I’m not always motivated. I don’t think anyone is. There are days where I just want to stop working and do something easier. Because to me, service is incredibly difficult. I’m actually quite shy and awkward, so giving people service has always been a tremendous challenge for me. But that’s the motivation too, anything that scares me or is uncomfortable I have a tendency to want to master. And I absolutely live for the moments when I can give my guest a great, memorable service experience, regardless if they’re just having one glass of wine after work on a Monday night or a whole flight of cocktails on a busy Saturday. As industry people, we have the privilege of being able to give our guests something that cannot be ordered over amazon and delivered the next day – we have the opportunity to give them an experience that makes them feel something”. It’s a very special thing, really.

Continuing, Josephine points out that the biggest challenge is that, no matter what you do yourself, the problem is global.

“The same challenge we all have, in every industry, in every household in every part of the world the problem is global. After all: we live in an unsustainable world which is built on a global economic system, on beliefs, on culture, on values and behaviours that assume that the earth has infinite resources. So no matter how hard we try to be sustainable we’ll always fall short somewhere along the line. Even if you manage operate in a completely closed loop system, the rest of the world doesn’t, so it’s a kind of damned if you damned if you don’t type of situation. There’s more than one challenge but I’d say the biggest one is rethinking everything and coming up with solutions that don’t exist yet. We need a game changer, because if we play by the rules already set up in the game of the world as we know it, we’re bound to fail”.

She leaves us with some last words and pointers on how to start really making a difference.

It’s fine and all that we ditch the straws and make sure that our bars have solid recycling-programs, but that’s far from enough. Put pressure on suppliers, packaging, emissions, transportation! I think that if we go about change as an economic incentive rather than a moral one we’ll have a lot more leverage. If we refuse to carry products that don’t meet our standards for sustainability, we have the opportunity to change the way a company thinks. Do what you can, however little or insignificant it may seem! Change starts small, you know. Save all the water from the tables and use it to mop the floors and clean the toilets. When you empty out the ice-well, dump the ice outside instead of putting it in the sink and pouring water over it. Weigh your collected trash and see if you can reduce that number. It’s good to see how much waste you actually produce – if you know that you need to reduce your weekly waste by x kilos, it is a lot easier to get than than just ‘reducing your waste’. Recycle, upcycle, read up, do whatever you can to invent new ways to think about ingredients and waste. And that, by the way, is one of the most exciting things about the sustainability challenge, it forces you to be creative and inventive”.
  
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A chat about sustainability with Gagan Gurung the bar manager at Fang Fang

Gagan Gurung has always dreamt of becoming a chef because of his love for flavors, herbs and spices. But when he realised that the same creativity of experimenting with flavors can be used behind the bar, where he could also meet the people he served, he decided to chose the bartender trade instead.

In what part of the world are you right now? And what would be your dream place to be working?

“Currently I am living in Hong Kong. I want to work in New York to experience the evolution of the cocktail legacy”.

Gagan Gurung is the bar manager at Fang Fang, a bar, lounge and restaurant in Hong Kong. Gagan is known for his creative drinks and how he incorporates Chinese philosophy and the five elements – water, wood, earth, fire and metal into his creations. He also recently added the 12 Chinese Zodiac cocktail to his menu. At Fang Fang the drinks are traditional with a modern twist influenced by the nearby regions.

When we ask him what keeps him motivated it’s the variety that the job entails that keeps him going.

“Our customers,who always comes back for more, and my team. Our job is never the same, like other professions, we have different customers, at different times, who want to have a different experience which we never fail to deliver.”

Why is reducing waste important to you?

“Reducing waste in our workplace through reusing and recycling will create a better world for future generations. After working in the industry for a decade, I have realised that we can create a working place without using too much, but still give more. I believe in sustainability and hope every bartender adopts it”.
 
When he continues explaining how they work in his bar today to reduce waste we get loads of ideas on how to become more sustainable behind the bar.

“These are some rules we have had created; when using lime and lemon, we use it in three ways. The skin for oil, the fruit for juice and fruit leftovers for cordial. We also have three ways of using a pineapple; the leaf for garnish, the fruit makes puré and the core can be juiced. We don’t use any napkins or plastic straws and we never keep the water running in the sink. When something is delivered to us we always return any paper och plastic boxes to the supplier”.

Share or exchange things with other bars in need. Try to avoid plastic straws.

He continues with some useful tips and tricks that are easily adoptable.

“Ask your suppliers to re-use the box or bags or anything they deliver with. Reuse glass bottles and plastic bottles, by keeping everything clean and tidy after use and reusing them (there are lots of times you need bottles). Share or exchange things with other bars in need. Try to avoid plastic straw. This has been a huge step in Hong Kong, there are lots of other kinds of biodegradable straws at a low price”.

What is the biggest challenge when working sustainable within the bar industry right now?

“I think the support of owners, get them to understand what they can earn with this project. And the suppliers who delivers every single thing with lots of paper or plastic wrap.”

Is sustainability is your obsession or life style?

It’s a lifestyle!
 
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Talking sustainability with the Tin Roof Drink Community

Claire Sprouse and Chad Arnholt, based in Brooklyn, are the duo behind the Tin Roof Drink Community, set out to inspired and to share information within the cocktail industry on how to reduce waste in all steps using an holistic way of thinking. With a mission of trying to prove that you can have a good time and be mindful about waste at the same time. 

What is the biggest challenge when working sustainable within the bar industry right now?

“Information! When we first started, there was no great resource for how to be more sustainable, and what was out there was not completely accurate or confusing. That’s why we drive hard at the research and education, so we can make being more sustainable accessible, accurate, and realistic.”

Why is this so important to you? 

“Waste in bars is often considered business as usual, but we know it doesn’t have to be. At the same time, we know that the “zero-waste” bar is the one that never existed, but then life would be a whole lot less fun. We are trying to prove that you can have a good time AND be mindful about waste. We get to meet so many new faces while we are out educating or consulting. Their enthusiasm and drive to gobble up all the knowledge, both technical and hospitality-focused, keeps us motivated.”

In their own bar they take a holistic perspective, not just focusing on one aspect but trying to chip away at every part. They examine water waste, energy waste, carbon footprint, food waste and all the trash their bar throw away. 

 We are trying to prove that you can have a good time AND be mindful about waste

“You can’t treat the problem without knowing how the cogs all fit together, so we do a lot of digging into how our bars fit into the greater processes of agriculture and industrial production of goods.”

Could you share some smart hacks that other bartenders and bar owners could easily copy?

“Know your equipment so you can learn and teach your staff how to use it most efficiently. It’s not super sexy, but changing things like the aerators on your sink faucets or keeping your gaskets on the fridges maintained save tons of water and electricity waste. Collaboration with other areas of the business – the kitchen, barista, servers, managers – to work together to cross-utilize ingredients or systems. Tightening up on waste streams is much easier when the entire team is working towards that goal.

Buy a dehydrator! They use minimal amounts of electricity and they are great for saving food that might otherwise get tossed in the trash. You can create new garnishes, turn fruits into aromatic powders, or even save herbs for later use.”

Our these efforts in bars just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Meaning, is this a lost cause? 

“We believe that every action is a step in the right direction, so starting small can add up to really big change. Our planet’s well-being needs EVERYONE to start changing their ways – including bartenders!”

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A chat with bartender Tom Egerton of Potato Head.

Already at the age of twelve, inspired by his older brother practising flairing with a Malibu bottle in their backyard, Tom knew what he wanted to become. 17 years later they’re still both in the trade of bartending. Unfortunately neither of them ever became very good at flairing. 

“After food waste, carbon footprint and plastic became part of the conversation in the bar industry. We reviewed how much waste our (relatively small) bar was producing during service and worked out the immense carbon footprint we were creating every night. Since then I’ve moved on to larger venues, but the idea of shrinking green circles, minimising waste and being aware of our place in the carbon economy has become a driving force in how I work as an operator”. 

Tom works for Potato Head an Indonesian hospitality and lifestyle company. He’s based in Hong Kong but does support and development across their outlets in Singapore and Indonesia. Currently he’s at their mammoth beach club in Bali. Where they have scaled up an environmentally conscious and sustainable drinks program for a venue that can serve 4000 drinks a day. To re-thinking every step to become more sustainable seems like a tremendous amount of work and falling back to old habits sounds easy. This made us wondered; what keeps him motivated? 

We live under the perception that something from the other side of the world is inherently better than something produced locally

“Seeing the hard work and innovation people in the bar industry all around the world are putting in to their bar programs and being more environmentally and socially conscious in their operations inspires me to live by the motto ‘drink good = do good’. We work to minimise the carbon footprint of our produce and spirits, to buy local, recycle and repurpose food waste and ensure we have an understanding of where our waste goes after it leaves our venue. In our largest venue, Potato Head Beach Club in Bali, 98% of the organic waste goes to free range pig farms where it is used as feed, so the nutrients go back into the carbon cycle instead of being lost to landfill”. 

What’s the biggest challenge? 

“Packaging and perception. For packaging, up to 50% of the weight shipped of a product is left in the empty glass bottle once the spirit is gone. On average only a portion of recycled glass can be reclaimed, so a lot of the carbon footprint of any alcohol product comes from what is essentially window dressing. How do we maintain brand identity in the future and reduce weight and material that needs to be recycled?” 

“We live under the perception that something from the other side of the world is inherently better than something produced locally – outside of appellation control, why can’t you produce something on par or of higher quality locally to replace something shipped in order to reduce carbon footprint?”

When we ask him about some easy hacks to inspire others he continues “Try and get an understanding of where you are in your carbon cycle – where does your produce come from and where does your waste go? How much is recycled? Is there a local urban garden you can contribute green waste to for compost? Removing straws and reducing plastic is a great first step, but what comes next? One of the best current examples of understanding where a bar exists in a green cycle is ‘This Must Be the Place’ is Sydney; their current menu concept is ‘This Must Be the End’, based around the concept of bunker bartending – aka how would you make drinks if our current agricultural model and food preservation ability failed us? How can you balance drinks without year long access to citrus? How do you sweeten without processed sugars? It’s a great thought process to investigate what grows within travelling distance of your venue and how that relates to your drink program.”

Tom leaves us with one last piece of advice he wished someone would have told him when he was in his 20’s that really sums it up well. Working sustainable also includes working sustainable with a bars most important asset, the bartender. “If it feels like an injury, it probably is. Don’t shrug it off and stubbornly work through the pain – go to a doctor or physio before you do yourself lasting damage. Torn muscles, dislocated fingers and broken bones in the hand might be a bravado-filled story at the time, but you’ll feel those old injuries ache for the rest of your days. If you want to be a bartender for life, you’ve got to look after yourself.”

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A chat with bartender Hampus Thunholm of Fäviken.

Hampus wasn’t supposed to get into the line of bartending, instead he wanted to become a chef. But at his first day in the kitchen he was tricked into getting behind the bar – the reason – the other chefs thought he talked to much.

Hampus wasn’t supposed to get into the line of bartending, instead he wanted to become a chef. But at his first day in the kitchen he was tricked into getting behind the bar – the reason – the other chefs thought he talked to much.

And maybe this is one of the reasons that keeps him motivated. “There are so many things that keeps you motivated, but just the love to be behind the bar and share the love for what you do is almost more than enough”. In other words being behind the bar seems like the perfect place for a passionated chatterbox like Hampus.

We asked Hampus why reducing waste in his bar is so important to him and what he does to make this happen. “If you think of it like this, it’s a question of survival. So I think 90% of the world’s population should be thinking a bit more about this. And if I can be a part of making the world a little bit better, I will”.

We are working close to the land, in the region Jämtland, with the forest and the local farmers

To affect how much waste a bar produces there are many things to take into consideration, and there are many small actions that can lead up to a big change. But foremost reducing waste is about not getting too much stuff into the bar in the first place.

Hampus has been working at Fäviken for about a year now, together with head chef Magnus Nilsson. The essence of Fäviken is found in the way they work alongside the community. In a mix of tradition and innovation Fäviken follows the seasonal variation using ingredients locally grown or hunted. Using traditional techniques to preserve these ingredients for the winter months as they dry, salt, jelly, pickle and bottle to build up a storage of what they need until next season.

“We are a quite special bar, located in the northern parts of Sweden. So to start, we don’t work with citrus fruit. The only thing that we are buying to the bar is booze. We are working close to the land, in the region Jämtland, with the forest and the local farmers. It lets us have much more control of any waste and also lets us turn our waste into new use.

If you’re in need of inspiration on how to reduce your waste Hampus suggests checking out the “pioneers Trash Tiki and the Green Hustle program from Absolut”.

Trash Tiki, an initiative by bartenders Kelsey Ramage and Iain Griffiths, started out as an online platform, and was just supposed to be a place to gather recipes that would be sustainable but still simple. But with the enormous response it recieved it quickly resulted in a series of pop-ups which would inspire to reducing waste and sustainable bar keeping. Something that even the smallest bar could handle, as well as benefit from.

Reducing waste may sound easy but there are still big challenges that people are faced with within the industry, as Hampus points out. “Lack of knowledge is a huge challenge right now, I thought I new all about the whole sustainable situation but after a year up in the north I’ve realized that I had so much to learn”.

A chat with the Absolut Home Site Manager.

Johan Trollnäs is excited and so are we. Absolut Home has opened its doors to visitors! We’re proud to introduce our world class culinary and culture destination, built on legacy, local community and our purposeful company culture. We spoke with site manager Johan about why you’ll want to put our brand new Åhus destination on your itinerary.

Johan believes wholeheartedly in the legacy that drove the creation of Absolut Home, so first we should tell you about that. In the 1880’s, LO Smith’s efforts to bring his vodka to market were thwarted when Stockholm alcohol producers rallied together to ban from selling it in the city because his factory was – at the time – on a small island technically outside city limits. So, the entrepreneur got innovative. He built a shop attached to his factory on the island, published ads in the local paper and personally funded a steamboat shuttle service 72 times each day so people could come and buy his product. He built his beloved vodka a true home of its own.

LO’s legacy has been an inspiration for Absolut’s growth across the board, and our brand newAbsolut Homeis no exception. Johan talks us through why our innovative, community-driven visitor’s center is well worth a visit.

“It was all about timing,” says our destination’s site manager of its origins. “Absolut had dreamed of a brand home for many years, but there hadn’t been an opportunity to bring it to life until now.”

To Johan, one of the most important factors was rallying the local community of Åhus, which has been Absolut Vodka’s home for years. “Building a destination is something you do together as a group,” he explains. “It’s a team effort. I don’t just mean the team at The Absolut Company, but the whole town. It was important to us to be true to our word that if you can get enough people to visit a destination, the whole community benefits from it.”

When the estate next door to the factory became available, the timing seemed perfect. Dedicated construction teams spent two years developing the site to perfection: restoring the historic estate’s original features, replacing every tile on the roof and strengthening the building’s foundation.

There isn’t a day that goes by when we don’t tweak something to improve our guests’ overall experience

The result? A comprehensive cultural experience under one roof. “I don’t want us to be like any other culinary destination. We’re not Modena or Champagne, we’re uniquely Absolut,” says Johan, as he explains how the Absolut Home experience works.

“When you arrive, you’re connected with one of our guides. They take you on a tour with a small group of 15 people, walking you through the history of the brand from its humble beginnings to what Absolut Vodka is today,” he says.

But it’s far more than just a live history textbook. Absolut Home is also about our people.

“Next, you meet the people who make up The Absolut Company; ourOne Community. We introduce you by name to some of the 405 local farmers who deliver wheat to Absolut. Once you learn about our proud sources, we walk you through how we make our vodka,” says Johan, adding, “We are the vodka with nothing to hide!”

Of course, no tour is complete without an appropriately refreshing reward. Your experience concludes with a lesson in epic cocktail making.

“We teach you to make a kick-ass Cosmopolitan. While you’re enjoying it, we showcase some of our iconic art, fashion and commercial productions past and present.”

By this point a sturdy appetite has no doubt been worked up, so guests can settle into the ultra welcoming Absolut Home restaurant, Villan, which has been fully booked since the day it opened. Johan, who has opened plenty of restaurants in his career, says the distinct difference here is the amount of overwhelmingly positive feedback.

“The response has been exclusively positive which is something I don’t think I’ve heard of before,” he says. “But the funny thing is, in spite of that I believe we have changed the menu three times in as many weeks and there isn’t a day that goes by when we don’t tweak something to improve our guests’ overall experience.”

And the Absolut Home experience continues to evolve. Soon, guests will be able to take part in an hourlong sensory experience to become expert vodka testers (and excellent home bartenders!).

We’re proud of who we are as a company. We’re also proud of the community that supports us, and since coming on board with The Absolut Company, Johan has felt the same in waves.

“Absolut has a fantastic company culture, but the same goes for the community of Åhus,” he says. “There are very few places where I have felt at home and welcomed right away. If you decide to come, you should plan for at least an extra day to visit a few other locations in the nearby community.”

And as for the future? Johan says this is just the beginning.

“We are going to follow the legacy of LO Smith who used his entrepreneurial spirit to influence other parts of society: promoting better pay for workers and gender equality long before those were household ideas in Sweden and around the world.”

What an exciting journey to be on.

The Market Activation team for Malibu and Kahlúa works together with around 30 different markets, involving hundreds of people around the globe. Naturally, being part of such a global and decentralized organization comes with challenges. Differences in culture, language and values can easily lead to unexpected misunderstandings and – worst case – disharmony. 

However, the Malibu and Kahlúa Market Activation team is bridging this gap by exploring the different mindsets and perspectives that come with living in a totally different region. We sat down with Danielle Lalin and Niklas Milesi from the Market Activation team to learn more about their approach and why it’s so important to work together as one team.

Danielle, you’ve now headed the Global M&K Market Activation team for almost two years. What have you learned so far?

I think the most important thing I’ve learned is that you need people to work with you, not against you. By letting people being part of the discussion, and by being curious about someone else’s version of “your” reality you foster curiosity, and collaboration. ‘Go explore’ is the mantra we use to in order to see things from a different perspective – someone else’s perspective.

Niklas, what’s your experience with this new approach?

Since Danielle joined our team, she has been challenging us to look at our relationship with colleagues in other markets. Her view has been that by being curious, interested and understanding different needs, we can build trust and long-lasting collaboration across borders. With this approach, we have established relationships that go beyond just business relationships.

Danielle, your team talks a lot about the importance of having a “one team approach”. How do you, as a brand owner, work together with the local markets to bridge the gaps?

We have a lot of functional differences, for example they focus on the whole portfolio while our focus is naturally on managing our two brands. We both have a long-term perspective, but the local markets focus heavily on delivering value within the short-term perspective as well.

We all have the same basic needs. We want to be seen and heard, feel appreciated for what we do and see that we contribute to the bigger picture.

But to be honest, I don’t think we’re that different after all. We all have the same basic needs. We want to be seen and heard, feel appreciated for what we do and see that we contribute to the bigger picture.

Niklas, you recently spent four months in Sydney to establish a closer connection and explore different perspectives. Did that experience give you new insights into how you work within the team?

It really did! A big part of my job here at The Absolut Company is to work in close cohesion with our local markets, helping them to develop the strategy and the sales of Malibu & Kahlúa locally and basically being a business partner to the local markets.

We take much pride in how we work together as a team, so I realized that I must keep exploring, stay curious and look beyond the regular patterns of my own work routine. It’s crucial to see the perspectives of other people – not only within the global team, but also from a consumer standpoint. We all have cultural differences, which you can only experience by being there.

So why Australia?

It came naturally to me. Not just because of the good weather, but because it’s grown into a key market for Kahlúa, with a very rich coffee culture and a booming Espresso Martini trend. We’ve had some really good momentum in Australia over the past few years, so I was eager to build on that for the future.

What did working on a day-to-day basis in another culture and market teach you?

It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about how things work in a completely different country. I also learned to step outside my own comfort zone, break routines and take in completely new perspectives.

In relation to my work, the ‘Go Explore’ mantra we use has been much about confronting a reality outside my regular work place. Being that far from home really forces you to challenge your way of thinking and doing things.

Did you learn something new about yourself as a person?

Yes, definitely. Since I returned I have promised myself to be more spontaneous. Because in general, I would say that Australians have a more relaxed approach to everything outside work, which suits me perfectly. And I’m not saying Swedes are boring or introvert – but if you ask a Swede to go for drinks on laundry day, there’s a high likelihood you’re going alone.

I guess the four months you spent with your colleagues in Sydney brought you closer together as a team. How is that recognized in your daily work?

The fact that I have spent time with everyone in Sydney makes our daily correspondence so much easier. Now I know who the person behind the name is; I know how they speak, what sense of humor they have and what makes them tick. Work is so much smoother when you have a relationship that stretches beyond the strictly professional. Note: Since this interview, Danielle Lalin has moved on to new adventures within the company, heading the role as Director of Brand Advocacy at Absolut.