Belvedere Vodka Celebrates 108th Anniversary of its Polish Distillery
By Chilled Magazine
Polmos Żyrardów recently made waves when it became the first spirits distillery to receive a grant from the European Union to further its sustainability agenda.
Sustainability has been at the core of the distillery’s vision, driven by the Belvedere Cares program, a platform dedicated to conserving energy during the vodka distillation process and shifting fuel sourcing from oil to natural gas. Overall the brand has been able to reduce CO2 emissions by 42% since 2012 per liter of spirit produced, despite significant brand growth over that time period.
“This grant offers a very ambitious and exciting opportunity for our distillery. With this grant, we hope to cut CO2 emissions even further by 80%, becoming one of the greenest distilleries in the world.”
– Rodney Williams, President of Belvedere Vodka
Polmos Żyrardów has a long history in supporting the local Polish community with sustainability initiatives. It co-founded the Foundation for Local Environmental Protection, and only sources its Polska Rye grains locally, working to nurture long-term relationships with Polish agricultural sources. It also started the Raw Spirit Program, launched in partnership with agricultural distilleries to promote the sustainable growth of Dankowskie Rye.
This careful attention to producing Belvedere Vodka from only all natural raw ingredients and no additives or sugars, coupled with the distillery’s work in sustainable agriculture, has led the International Spirits Challenge (ISC) to award Belvedere with “Vodka Producer of the Year” for three consecutive years; 2015, 2016 and 2017. Founded on a rigorous and independent judging process, with more than 1,300 entries from nearly 70 countries worldwide, the ISC supported by many of the world’s leading spirits producers who regard it as the international standard for quality and excellence.
For more information, visit BelvedereVodka.com.