ecoSPIRITS to Launch in Dominican Republic With Local Craft Producer Candela
SANTO DOMINGO 23 December 2022 ecoSPIRITS has announced plans to launch closed loop service in Dominican Republic under a Licensed Operator Agreement with KOI DOMINICANA SRL, the producer of Candela Mamajuana, a premium spiced rum based on a recipe which is native to the region. Like other ecoSPIRITS island markets around the world, ecoSPIRITS Dominican Republic will operate an ecoPLANT 1.0S Lite, deploy a fleet of Ocean Conservation edition ecoTOTEs™ and will join the ecoSPIRITS Oceans Program to fund removal of waste from marine environments. Starting in early 2023, Candela will be the first spirit available in ecoTOTE format in the Dominican Republic, to be joined soon by other spirits producers participating in the ecoSPIRITS Climate Partner Program. Resorts in Punta Cana and Santo Domingo will be among the first venues to receive closed loop spirits service.
Candela Mamajuana will be the first spirit available in ecoTOTE format.
The SmartPour 2.0S Ocean Conservation Edition.
Mamajuana, a traditional native drink of the Dominican Republic, is a blend of Dominican rum, natural spices, and honey. Candela, meaning “on fire” in Spanish slang, was created in 2016 by Alejandro Russo and his mother Lillian Arinoviche, who wanted to create the finest expression of this local drink to share with the rest of the world. Candela is the leading brand of mamajuana and it is designed to be enjoyed neat or mixed in speciality cocktails. It is known for its smooth sweet taste, rich rosewood and honey aromas and long finish with warming spices. The spiced rum is handcrafted in the Dominican Republic with all-natural ingredients. It is distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, and then aged in American oak barrels. Candela is proud of its quality production methods and its focus on sourcing local ingredients. The company has a big focus on sustainable practices and its production processes are powered by renewable energy.
Mamajuana is aged in American oak barrels.
The premium Candela can be enjoyed neat or in speciality cocktails.
Spirits consumption in the Dominican Republic is dominated by rum, and mamajuana is one of the most popular drinks, featured on menus in most bars and clubs across the island nation. Some of the nation’s most well known cocktails are rum based such as Piña Colada, the Coco Loco and the Passionfruit Mojito, and are often sought out by tourists on their arrival at the beach. For rum production in the Dominican Republic, producers must harvest the sugar cane, ferment, distill, and age the spirit in oak barrels for a minimum of one year, and it all has to happen within the country’s borders.
The popular tourist area of Punta Cana.
The nation’s capital, Santo Domingo.
Closed loop distribution in ecoTOTE format will initially start with the popular tourist area of Punta Cana. This glamorous seaside resort town, in the easternmost region of the country, boasts a plethora of hotels and hotel bars including several luxury venues. Closed loop service will next be made available to the nation’s capital, Santo Domingo, which is well known for its energetic nightlife, Latin music, and rum-based drinks. Santo Domingo is the largest city of the Dominican Republic and the biggest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. It is the nation’s cultural, financial, political, commercial, and industrial centre and it also serves as the chief seaport of the country, with the port handling heavy passenger and freight traffic. Other destinations on the list include La Romana, Puerto Plata, Cabarete, and the Samaná Peninsula.
Candela is a mamajuana, a traditional Dominican Republic drink.
The country's government is working hard to keep its oceans waste-free.
The Dominican Republic, one of the world’s top tourist destinations, is the tenth largest economy in Latin America and the largest in the Caribbean region open for commercial trade. In 2019, the Dominican Republic set out plans to invest in new sustainability initiatives specifically focused on its tourism industry, with the aim of boosting the nation’s ‘ecotourism’ image. As part of this, the government pledged to reduce marine and land-based pollution, cut the consumption of materials, and diminish waste arising from tourism with targets such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. Following in the footsteps of the Bermuda, the Seychelles and the Cayman Islands, ecoSPIRITS Dominican Republic will participate in the ecoSPIRITS Ocean Program, which works with island nations that are most at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change. Each order of an ecoTOTE in the Dominican Republic will fund the removal of one kilogram of single use plastic, glass and other man-made wastes from endangered coral reefs and marine environments.
Alejandro Russo, Co-founder, Candela Mamajuana
“We are delighted to be partnering with ecoSPIRITS to bring circular spirits service to the Dominican Republic. We are proud to have Candela Mamajuana, an authentic Dominican product, lead the way into sustainable business practices. We hope Candela Mamajuana becomes an example of eco-conscious values and sets the standards for other brands to follow. We are excited to be operators of the country’s first ecoPLANT, and we look forward to seeing this closed loop technology in action.”
Jessica Berry, Sales Director, North America, ecoSPIRITS
“The Dominican Republic is a nation that loves to celebrate and enjoy life, as well as many delicious rum-based cocktails! It has a thriving tourism scene with several luxurious and world-renowned hotels. All of this makes it perfectly positioned to transition to the circular economy, and we are excited to work with Candela Mamajuana to launch our low waste and low carbon packaging technology in our fourth island market. Together, we can make a progress in ending single use glass in the Dominican Republic.”
For more information about ecoSPIRITS Dominican Republic, please contact ecoSPIRITS’ Sales Director for North America, Jessica Berry on [email protected]. Brands, bars, restaurants, and hotels interested in joining the ecoSPIRITS Climate Partner Program in the Dominican Republic may contact Alejandro Russo via email at [email protected]. For media inquiries about ecoSPIRITS, you may contact Senior PR Manager, Sonya Hook on [email protected]
About Candela
Candela Mamajuana is the finest expression of the Dominican Republic’s legendary spiced rum. Known for its smooth taste of the finest rum, exotic spices, and honey, this spirit is made with all-natural ingredients and distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane in its native country. The approachable spirit can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks or mixed in a speciality cocktail. Co-founded in 2016 by the mother and son duo, Lillian Arinoviche and Alejandro Russo, Candela is distributed throughout Florida, California, New York, New Jersey, and the Dominican Republic.
For more details on Candela Mamajuana, please visit the website: www.drinkcandela.com
About the ecoSPIRITS Ocean Program
The ecoSPIRITS Oceans Program complements the ecoSPIRITS Forest Program for island nations that are most at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change. Highlighted by the striking blue Ocean Conservation Edition ecoTOTE, each order of an ecoTOTE by venue partners in participating islands nations funds the removal of one kilogram of single use plastic, glass and other man-made wastes from endangered, coral reefs and waters. Using Green Steps Group’s proprietary “proof of impact” technology platform, cleanup operations are verified, monitored and reported through an industry-leading digital record. Ocean waste recovery benefits the venue partners, but is jointly funded by ecoSPIRITS and our Climate Partner brands and distributors.
For more information on Green Steps Group, please visit www.greenstepsgroup.com.
About ecoSPIRITS
ecoSPIRITS is a circular economy technology company that has developed the world’s first low carbon, low waste distribution technology for premium spirits and wine. Our patent-pending closed loop system nearly eliminates all packaging waste in the supply chain. By dramatically reducing packaging and transport, ecoSPIRITS provides both a powerful cost advantage and a transformative carbon footprint reduction. Founded in Singapore in 2018, the ecoSPIRITS technology is now available in more than 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. More than 1,000 leading bars, restaurants, hotels, and retailers have adopted the technology. ecoSPIRITS is now rapidly building a global network of closed loop service, with coverage to grow to 25 countries worldwide by early 2023. Together with our brand partners, importers, distributors, wholesalers, venues and retailers, we are already making a difference. Each year, ecoSPIRITS and our partners are eliminating hundreds of tons of single use glass waste, planting tens of thousands of trees, and inspiring others to change.
For more information, please visit www.ecospirits.global.
ecoSPIRITS USA Activates First Two ecoPLANTs in Florida and California
MIAMI 15 December 2022 ecoSPIRITS USA, the United States operating partner of ecoSPIRITS, has announced the locations of its first ecoPLANTs in the United States, which will be managed in partnership with well-regarded distilled spirits plant (DSP) operators Mango Bottling in Florida and Chareau in Southern California. Both new partners join ecoSPIRITS’ growing network of ecoPLANT hosts around the world, playing a critical role in the launch and scaling of closed loop spirits and wine service. ecoSPIRITS USA now has plans to bring additional ecoPLANTs online in the United States in the second half of 2023. The news also paves the way for the launch of closed loop ecoTOTE™ service in both California and Florida next month.
Chareau creates plant-based spirits made using local California ingredients.
ecoPLANT No. 032 is based at Mango Bottling in the Cocoa Beach area, Florida.
ecoSPIRITS’ global closed loop network is anchored by its proprietary ecoPLANT technology, which are semi-automated, containerised spirits and wine processing plants. The containerised design provides a highly scalable modular solution for geographically distributed spirits and wine processing. To improve the safety and efficiency of ecoPLANT operations, ecoSPIRITS looks to partner with experienced local operators, often leading distilleries, or bonded warehouse companies, to host each ecoPLANT. Hosts provide licensed premises for the ecoPLANT site, as well as experienced production staffing and quality control systems.
Around the world, ecoPLANT hosts play an essential role in ecoSPIRITS’ closed loop network.
Around the world, ecoPLANT hosts play an essential role in ecoSPIRITS’ closed loop network.
Around the world, ecoPLANT hosts play an essential role in ecoSPIRITS’ closed loop network.
Around the world, ecoPLANT hosts play an essential role in ecoSPIRITS’ closed loop network.
Around the world, ecoPLANT hosts play an essential role in ecoSPIRITS’ closed loop network.
The ecoPLANT is a semi-automated, containerised spirits and wine processing plant.
Mango Bottling, which is located north of Miami in the Cocoa Beach area, Florida, has commenced operations of ecoPLANT No. 032, which is an ecoPLANT 2.0W model capable of processing both spirits and wine and will provide service to both South Florida and the duty-free hub in Miami port. Perfectly located to service the fast-growing Southern Florida region, including Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa, ecoPLANT No. 032, is also near the Miami headquarters of ecoSPIRITS USA, which is a joint venture between Park Street Technology Ventures and the Edmund Pillsbury family. Mango Bottling started as a producer of spirit-based brands and later, in 1995, it extended its services into contract bottling. It now works with both new and established brands and all sizes of spirit-based products.
ecoPLANT No. 032 will service the Southern Florida region, including Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
Drayton Sproull, President of Mango Bottling (centre) - pictured here with Dan Holmes, Sales Director (left) and Jared Shammah, COO (right)
“My vision for Mango is utilizing our team’s strengths to modernize the manufacturing production facility while preserving the goal of creating efficiencies, decreasing waste, and ultimately reducing the company’s carbon footprint. Our executive team members, Jared Shammah, Mango’s COO, and Dan Holmes, our Sales Director, are also delighted to partner with ecoSPIRITS USA to support environmentally sound products for our customers and the alcoholic beverage market.”
Chareau’s spirits facility is located north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, California. As part of the new partnership, ecoPLANT No. 031, which is also an ecoPLANT 2.0W model, is hosted in a dedicated production and warehouse facility to be operated by Chareau staff, who will be trained and supported by ecoSPIRITS’ global Closed Loop Operations team. The Chareau brand and business is the brainchild of Kurt Charron, who was inspired by the rich agriculture and natural beauty of California. Chareau spirits are designed to be made as naturally as possible from plant-based ingredients. Chareau is also a social purpose company, which means it cares about the wellness of its staff, customers, and the community at large. These attributes of caring for both the environment and those who interact with the business make Chareau an exceptional fit for ecoSPIRITS and its mission to end single use glass in the spirits and wine industry. ecoPLANT No. 031 will offer closed loop ecoTOTE service to Southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.
The California-based ecoPLANT No. 031 will service the Southern California region, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and select venues in San Francisco.
Kurt Charron, Founder & CEO, Chareau
“We are excited to join ecoSPIRITS on their global mission to eliminate single use packaging waste and significantly reduce carbon emissions in the spirits industry. We formed our company as a Social Purpose Corporation to not only make the best quality spirits, but also to operate with intention, increase our sustainability efforts and make a difference in the world. We are proud to partner with a company operating with a similar ethos.”
Zdenek Kastanek, Managing Director, ecoSPIRITS USA
“The U.S. market has now shown that it is ready to embrace the low carbon revolution on a much greater scale than we expected. We have an exceptional group of brands, distributors and hospitality operators committed to join our Climate Partner Program here in the U.S. Our launches in California and Florida, and our partnerships with Mango Bottling and Chareau, are the perfect first step in the world’s most exciting market for circular spirits and wine.”
Bob Syihabuddin, Head of Closed Loop Operations, ecoSPIRITS
“Our fast-growing ecoPLANT network plays an essential role in circular spirits – without distributed processing, local closed loop service would not be possible. Finding the right host for each ecoPLANT have proven to be a key to safely and efficiently scaling production operations. By working together, our ecoPLANT hosts, such as Mango Bottling and Chareau, and ecoSPIRITS’ Closed Loop Operations team, are building the world’s first truly standardized, truly global closed loop production network. This is an exciting challenge for everyone involved.”
Closed loop service in both Florida and California will commence in January 2023. Additional details on early Climate Partner brands, distributors and outlets in the United States will be released soon. For more information about ecoSPIRITS USA, please contact Zdenek Kastanek on [email protected] or Jessica Berry on [email protected]. For more information about ecoSPIRITS you may contact Senior PR Manager, Sonya Hook on [email protected].
About Mango Bottling
Mango Bottling is a privately owned corporation, based in East Central Florida, licensed as an Alcoholic Beverage Distiller and Producer. Mango was established in 1992 to manufacture pre-filled test tubes with flavored liqueurs carrying the Tooters brand name. The goal was simple, to add an element of fun through a unique ready to drink packaging. Then in 1995, Mango expanded its business model by offering contract bottling services to start-up and established Spirit brands. The focus was to establish ourselves as a niche co-packer that could facilitate standard and custom packaged products. In the past 30 years since its inception, Mango Bottling has continued to be creative and innovative within our product offerings and a reliable resource for contract bottling customers.
For more information visit www.mangobottling.com.
About Chareau
Chareau is a low ABV plant-based spirit made with real California Aloe. The founder, Kurt Charron, developed Chareau to be an honest spirit free of artificial colors and flavors, while bringing a much-needed sense of wellness and transparency to the industry. The company takes a mindful approach to creating light, refreshing, and delicious spirits using local California ingredients, and the brand is a gift from the hands and hearts of California’s farmers and artisans. Chareau is named after Kurt Charron’s great-grandparents, Arthur Charron and Florence Favreau, hard-working farmers who moved the family out west, where Kurt Charron has lived ever since.
For more information visit https://chareau.us/.
About ecoSPIRITS USA
ecoSPIRITS USA is introducing ecoSPIRITS’ award-winning circular distribution technology to the world’s largest premium spirits and wine market. Starting with closed-loop service in California and Florida and January 2023, ecoSPIRITS USA is building and operating a ‘first to market’ circular distribution system that will eventually service metropolitan markets across the United States. Founded in 2021, the company is headquartered in Miami, FL, and its investors include, among others, Wavemaker Partners, Park Street Technology Ventures, and the Edmund Pillsbury Family.
For more information, please contact [email protected]
About Park Street Technology Ventures
Park Street Technology Ventures (“Park Street Ventures”) is an affiliate of Park Street, a technology-enabled services company that helps emerging and established alcoholic beverage suppliers and brand owners cost-effectively and securely scale and manage their businesses. The company is trusted by thousands of brands from new-to-market entrepreneurs to well established multi-brand global portfolios. Park Street Ventures invests in early-stage start-ups and established growth companies in the alcoholic beverage industry. The firm’s investment mandate focuses on transformative technologies and green initiatives.
For more information, visit: www.parkstreet.com
About ecoSPIRITS
ecoSPIRITS is a circular economy technology company that has developed the world’s first low carbon, low waste distribution technology for premium spirits and wine. Our patent-pending closed loop system nearly eliminates all packaging waste in the supply chain. By dramatically reducing packaging and transport, ecoSPIRITS provides both a powerful cost advantage and a transformative carbon footprint reduction. Founded in Singapore in 2018, the ecoSPIRITS technology is now available in more than 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. ecoSPIRITS is now rapidly building a global network of closed loop service, with coverage to grow to 25 countries worldwide by early 2023. Together with our brand partners, importers, distributors, wholesalers, venues, and retailers, we are already making a difference. Each year, ecoSPIRITS and our partners are eliminating hundreds of tons of single use glass waste, planting tens of thousands of trees, and inspiring others to change.
For more information visit www.ecospirits.global.
ecoSPIRITS Expands Investment in Intelligent Circular Vision With Independent Board Member and CTO Appointments
SINGAPORE 8 December 2022 ecoSPIRITS is marking a major expansion of its investment in its Intelligent Circular™ roadmap, which includes its CircularONE™ software platform, with two senior technology appointments. Eric Tan has joined the ecoSPIRITS Board of Directors as an independent board member and Derek Tang has been appointed to the newly-created role of Chief Technology Officer. Together, the new appointments add five decades of technology, software development and Internet-of-Things IoT (IoT) leadership experience to ecoSPIRITS’ board and executive leadership team. Messrs. Tan and Tang will help direct ecoSPIRITS’ expanded financial investment in the development of its software, IoT and data solutions. ecoSPIRITS’ Intelligent Circular roadmap is anchored by its CircularONE software platform, which integrates a complex global supply chain of hardware packaging assets into an IoT network. Through this integration of hardware and software, ecoSPIRITS is able to use data and automation to deliver real-time commercial insights, traceability and supply chain security, and unique performance features such as the patent-pending Verified Sustainable Refill™ technology. Having completed the first phase of development of CircularONE, ecoSPIRITS is now embarking on an intensive second phase of software development, which will see new features and capabilities released over the course of 2023.
ecoSPIRITS’ cloud-based CircularONE software platform is being developed to power a global closed loop network.
Tan joins the ecoSPIRITS Board of Directors as an independent board member, with a mandate to mentor ecoSPIRITS’ CEO Paul Gabie and newly-appointed Tang in the development of its software vision. Tan currently sits on the Chief Information Officer (CIO) advisory boards of Gartner and the Wall Street Journal, and has spent many years working for PwC in various leadership roles. He brings to ecoSPIRITS a wealth of experience in technology, AI/ML, and cybersecurity. Tan currently holds the role of CIO and Senior Vice President for Technology at Coupa, the California-based, NASDAQ-listed global SaaS company for business spend management. In 2022, he was a Bay Area’s ‘CIO of the Year’ at the ORBIE Awards for his outstanding leadership and innovation. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a Masters in IT and Bachelors in Accounting.
“ecoSPIRITS’ mission to end single use glass by transitioning the spirits and wine industry to circular packaging technologies is an inspiring one. Developing an integrated platform powered by IoT and data is an immense undertaking, but one well worth pursuing. A future where we waste less and save more is possible. I look forward to working closely with my fellow board members and the leadership team at ecoSPIRITS.”
“Our Intelligent Circular roadmap will help us, and our customers, deliver circular solutions at unprecedented scale. I am delighted to welcome Eric to our board as ecoSPIRITS’ navigates the challenges and opportunities of building a global Intelligent Circular network. His wealth of technology leadership will be invaluable in helping our board and leadership team make smarter strategic decisions as we expand our investment in this all-important roadmap.”
In the newly-created role of Chief Technology Officer, Tang will be responsible for overall product and technology development at ecoSPIRITS. Leading a team of hardware and software engineers, Tang will take charge of bringing to life ecoSPIRITS’ vision of a global Intelligent Circular network of IoT hardware powered by software and data. In this role, he will oversee ecoSPIRITS’ entire product portfolio, including its ecoPLANT™, ecoTOTE™, SmartPour™, SmartKiosk™ and CircularONE™ technologies. In his new role, one of Tang’s first tasks will be to expand ecoSPIRITS’ team of hardware, IoT and software engineers in both Singapore and Shanghai. Tang has spent his 20-year career on the forefront of IoT and software development and innovation. Prior to joining ecoSPIRITS, Tang was most recently a founding member and Head of Engineering at Singapore-based SaaS logistics start-up Spares CNX, where he built and led a software development team of 30 engineers. Previously, Tang held senior software development and IoT leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Accenture, Intel Corporation and GE Aviation. Throughout his career, he has focused on digital transformation strategies, with a specialization in IoT software platforms.
“Over the past few years IoT has become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century and I have dedicated my career towards understanding and developing ways in which the physical world of products meets the digital world. I am delighted therefore to be able to use my experience and passion about future technology to work with ecoSPIRITS, a company that is dedicated to the sustainable future of our planet.”
“Over the past four years, ecoSPIRITS has built an industry-leading hardware product portfolio. We have also completed the first phase of development of CircularONE, which has now deployed with some of our largest customers. Over the next three years, we will be investing heavily in software, IoT and data integration to power our network. Derek’s extensive technology development and leadership experience, and his specialisation in IoT are the perfect fit for this next chapter in ecoSPIRITS’ journey.”
The ecoSPIRITS circular packaging technology is now operating in more than 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, with network coverage on pace to expand to 25 countries by early 2023. For media inquiries or general information on ecoSPIRITS, you may contact Sonya Hook, Senior PR Manager at [email protected].
About ecoSPIRITS
ecoSPIRITS is a circular economy technology company that has developed the world’s first low carbon, low waste distribution technology for premium spirits and wine. Our patent-pending closed loop system nearly eliminates all packaging waste in the supply chain. By dramatically reducing packaging and transport, ecoSPIRITS provides both a powerful cost advantage and a transformative carbon footprint reduction. Founded in Singapore in 2018, the ecoSPIRITS technology is now available in more than 15 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. More than 1,000 leading bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers have adopted the technology, including Michelin-starred restaurants, World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best bars and iconic hotels. ecoSPIRITS is now rapidly building a global network of closed loop service, with coverage to grow to 25 countries worldwide by early 2023. Together with our brand partners, importers, distributors, wholesalers, venues, and retailers, we are already making a difference. Each year, ecoSPIRITS and our partners are eliminating hundreds of tons of single use glass waste, planting tens of thousands of trees, and inspiring others to change.