23 Feb 2012

Vanuatu company launches distillery

1:49 pm on 23 February 2012

The head of Vanuatu's first alcohol distillery says the launch of a range of locally made spirits will provide employment and training for local people as the business grows.

A spokesman of the Pure alcoholic beverage company, Phillip Northam, says the spirits in production are bourbon, whisky, rum and vodka, and gin will be made in the coming months.

He says the company employs seven local people and is different to other alcohol businesses which import the bulk of their products.

"We are putting in place right now training programmes to offer opportunities for ni-Vanuatu to be able to come and learn to be trained in distilling techniques and other areas of the distillery such as the fermentation process, bottling, labelling and so forth."

Phillip Northam says he has spent years mastering the art of distilling and the alcohol is as close to organic as possible using filtered rain water, imported ingredients and unique production techniques.