Ten Locks has quickly established itself as a supplier of quality spirits to both premium on and off-trade venues.
Exploding peas is not something that your average drinks entrepreneur has to concern themselves with, but for Becky Davies, director of Manchester-based spirits distributor and supplier Ten Locks, that was just one of the headaches she faced when creating and developing the company’s first own label spirits brand, Pod Pea Vodka.
Made from peas – yes good old British peas – the new product has been a real labour of love for Davies, but one that certainly came with its own unique set of challenges.
Becky Davies helped set up Ten Locks the new spirits business from Kingsland Drinks
“I didn’t want to be responsible for blowing up Kingsland’s headquarters,” she laughs. “But it’s a problem with pea flour – it’s actually very volatile and explosive.” More of which later.
Davies joined Kingsland Drinks, the Manchester based wine importer and bottling business, in 2020 just at the start of the Covid pandemic, with a brief to set up a separate spirits division. With Kingsland as the parent company, she singlehandedly founded Ten Locks – the name a nod to the locks of the Manchester Ship Canal which used to ship goods in and out of the UK – and less than three years later the company’s brands are now available in over 2,000 venues and outlets across the UK.
As well as Pod, other brands in the portfolio include El Tequileno, Savoia Americano, Three Spirit Non Alc, Salford Rum and Redwood Empire Whiskey.
“We source wonderful brands from around the world to sell to the UK,” she says.
Learning curve
But for Davies, creating a brand from scratch has been a steep learning curve. While she has considerable experience in brand building, which she acquired over the eight years she worked at premium spirits distributor Mangrove, latterly as on-trade sales director, prior to joining Kingsland she had never overseen the development of a brand from its initial inception through to launch before, and admits she had much to learn.
“While I was familiar with dealing with complete and established in their own market brands, handling the production of a new brand was not something I was familiar with, and is something else entirely.”
After being approached by Kingsland, the plan from the outset was always to create an own brand spirit, but in exactly what capacity was very much up to Davies. But after much research and risk assessment, the overwhelming conclusion was that the developing taste for savoury spirits, in tandem with the fact that vodka is still the largest spirits category in the world meant that a vodka made from peas was something of a no-brainer. Even though many people questioned this logic.
“I must have written about 16 business plans, and I kept going round in circles, but eventually everything came back to peas,” says Davies.
Why pea vodka?
Peas can make vodka? Who knew?
But pea vodka? Why would you want to make vodka from peas? Davies has a very good rationale behind the creation of the innovative new product.
“We wanted to make a sustainable, quintessentially British brand, and did a lot of research into the most suitable crop in the UK. And it kept coming back to peas,” she explains. “They are ‘nitrogen fixers’ which rejuvenates the soil, ensuring that future crops thrive.”
And not only are peas sustainable but with their grassy, green flavour, they also tap into the growing trend towards more savoury spirits. It almost has an agave edge to it, likening it to a Tequila.”
Despite the decision to plump for peas, which are sourced from Somerleyton farm in Suffolk, producing vodka from them is not the easiest of tasks.
Initially Davies says they tried making vodka from sugar snap peas, which, ironically don’t contain enough sugar for them to work well. Then there was the aforementioned problem of pea flour being fairly explosive. “We have to turn peas into pea flour, but it is quite volatile.”
The liquid is then fermented for seven weeks and distilled in a bespoke copper still which is steam-heated as it uses less energy and releases fewer CO2 emissions. Compared to most vodkas which are distilled at least four or five times, Pod is only distilled once to retain its unique flavour, and is then finally bottled at Ten Locks’ partner distillery in Manchester.
Biggest challenge
Pod Pea Vodka is the first brand that Ten Locks has devised, sourced and made itself
One of the biggest challenges, says Davies, other than her concerns about exploding peas, was in managing her own expectations. “I’m a perfectionist in terms of brands, and all the other brands that I had sourced from around the globe were very premium and high quality. And I wanted that from our own brand too.”
Launching a new business during the Covid pandemic was no walk in the park either, though Davies thinks that the experience actually helped make the business more agile and robust.
“I had to pivot fast, because my background was in the on-trade,” she recalls. But with the hospitality sector effectively closed for months, she had to reconsider her strategy, and focus on the off-trade side of the business.
“I remember pitching to Morrisons and the Co-op and pretty much learning on the job, but it paid off in the end.“
And with “amazing” support from Kinglsand, and sharing its resources, the Ten Locks team has now grown to 10, and is in the process of recruiting additional sales staff.
Reinvigorating the vodka category
Ten Locks has worked hard to build up a distinctive range of spirits brands – here’s a selection
With a clear shift away from sweet, cloying drinks, savoury drinks and cocktails are becoming more fashionable, and Davies believes Pod taps directly into that growing demand. Not only that but classic cocktails are becoming popular again with the resurgence of the Martini (AKA Martipea).
“The idea was to reinvigorate the vodka category, as I think people were disinterested with the vodka category due to its neutrality.
“Gin fatigue is real, and people are looking for simple, streamlined cocktails which minimise complexity and maximise flavour. That’s why Pod is so exciting – I knew savoury cocktails were becoming more and more popular as a trending flavour in the on trade but I didn’t realise quite how big a trend it is. Maybe I’m just heightended to it as it seems everyone is using peas in cocktails at the moment!”
Sustainability top of agenda
Sustainability was high up on the agenda when it came to creating Pod, as neatly summed up by the brand’s own logo incorporating their three Peas – ‘Peas, People, Planet’.
“Pod is the pinnacle of what all our brands stand for in Ten locks,” continues Davies, adding that not only are peas delicious, and the most sustainable British crop, but the whole lifecycle of the product has been intensely analysed to ensure minimum impact on the environment. “We are focusing on sustainable and ethical credentials.”
“I think no brand should be coming to market without that ambition. While we don’t lead with sustainability, we strive to achieve it and continue getting better. All our decisions are about what’s best for the planet, so we are really thinking about what we are doing with our brands- its critically important to us. It’s far more than ensuring that the liquid in the bottle is amazing – our consumers now want so much more from their brands.”
In keeping with these values, we source everything as locally as possible; the pod bottle is made from sand sourced in the UK, helping to keep the carbon footprint low. It’s also made from transition glass earmarked for further processing, resulting in less waste and using less energy. The labels, meanwhile, are designed locally in Manchester, and printed using wood-free FSC certified sandpaper, with no plastics or foils used in production, making Pod bottles easy to recyle.
More work to be done
However, Davies concedes that while the brand is doing all it can to live up to its values, “we are not perfect, and there is more to be done,”. For example, the company is now working on turning the left-over pea pulp into protein powder for pet food. It is also aiming to become B-corp certified and to become certifiably vegan.
Ten Locks is a new kind of spirits supplier
On-trade top focus
While Pod Vodka is now available in a number of retail outlets including Booths, Selfridges, Masters of Malt, Whiskey Exchange and Amazon, Davies says that the brand’s heart really lies in the on-trade.
“We definitely have a stake in retail, but a large percentage of our trade is in the on-trade,” she says.
The brand is currently listed in a number of bars and restaurants across the country, though is particularly strong in Ten Locks’ heartland of Manchester, as well as London, including The Ivy, Hawksmoor, Nobu, Mildreds, and Manchester based-bars including Schofields, Blinker, Wolf at the Door, The Botanist and Tariff & Dale.
It is also being featured at the achingly trendy and sophisticated Nomad hotel, in their subterranean bar, Common Decency which features Pod in not one but two cocktails.
Common decency
It is also being featured at the achingly trendy and innovative Birch hotel group, which describes itself as not just a hotel, but also a members’ club and a working space.
Reaction to the launch has been hugely positive, according to Davies. “We soft launched into the trade a few weeks ago, and some key influencers have really got into it. It has been incredibly well received, and the trade are loving experimenting with it. The feedback has been amazing, and people are so intrigued by the flavour. As it’s not a neutral vodka, it’s really important to get it under the noses of the right people to showcase how it can be used.”
To this end, Ten Locks produced some video footage of how Pod is produced and bottled, to stimulate interest amongst the most influential people in the business. “We really want to focus on the premium on-trade. Pod is a foodie brand, so we are also looking into doing paired dinners, matching food with the brand.”
Signature serve
Pod Pea Vodka’s signature serve is simple enough: a shot of vodka with premium soda
The signature serve suggested by Ten Locks is simply a shot of Pod, enlived with some premium soda or Fever Tree Cloudy Apple Juice. But Pod’s flavour profile also makes it perfect for mixing many classic cocktails with a green twist, such as in a White Lady or a Bloody Mary. Another suggested cocktail is a Peas & Cus, which combines a double shot of Pod with a spoonful of honey, muddled mint, peas and cucumber topped with soda water and a squeeze of lime to make a delicious and refreshing drink.
And as people seek out new and interesting drinks, Pod Vodka has successfully captured the imagination of both consumers and the trade.“It’s intriguing and interesting and bar tenders can’t wait to play around with it, creating their own cocktails.”
Opening doors
The interest generated by the launch of Pod has also helped open doors for the rest of Ten Lock’s stable of drinks, claims Davies. “It’s all about whether the brands complement the rest of the portfolio. I’m being pretty strategic about the brands we represent. Not just in terms of great liquid, striking branding and a greta story, but we want to represent those brands that are striving for positive change. “
So what next for Ten Locks? “While Ten Locks cannot compete with the massive budgets of global giants, we are very much about a bespoke offering and brands that demonstrate challenging the norm . Pod is a premium product and like all our brands is striving for positive change,” she says.
- Click here to find out more about Ten Locks.
- Kingsland Drinks is a supplier partner to The Buyer.
