Press release -
Altia starts production of organic grain spirit at its distillery in Koskenkorva, Finland
Altia starts production of organic grain spirit at its Koskenkorva distillery during the coming spring. The needed certificates for organic grain spirit production have been granted for Altia during the autumn 2014.
Altia will produce organic grain spirit using organic Finnish barley as raw-material in its distillation process. The production will start with a limited batch that will be produced at Altia's Koskenkorva distillery after the annual downtime and maintenance break.
"Availability of organic barley has increased in Finland and especially in Sweden the demand for organic alcohol products has increased. The combination of these two things has made the organic barley grain spirit production an interesting option for us, says Antti Snellman, director of the Koskenkorva distillery.
Currently aquavits are the only category including organic grain spirit based products at Altia. The company continuosly develops its product portfolio to respond to the demand for responsible products, including organic and fair trade.
Altia's biggest customer in Sweden, the state retail monopoly Systembolaget, has informed that it wants to increase the amount of organic products in its selection. The aim of the monopoly is that by 2020, 10 percent of all products sold would be organically produced.
Topics
- Food, Drink
Categories
- distillation
- altia
Altia is a leading wine and spirits company offering quality brands in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Altia’s own brands include Blossa, Chill Out, Explorer, Grönstedts, Jaloviina, Koskenkorva, Larsen, O.P. Anderson, Renault, Xanté and Skåne Akvavit. Altia’s partner brands include Codorniu, Drostdy-Hof, Jack Daniel’s, Bowmore, Nederburg, Ravenswood and Robert Mondavi.
The Koskenkorva plant produces grain-based spirits for use in the production of Altia’s own brands, such as Koskenkorva and Jaloviina, as well as starch and animal feed. The factory consumes up to 200 million kilograms of domestic barley per year. This amount accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the Finnish barley harvest and 30 per cent of all barley commercially available in the market.
