Each crisis starts new valuation systems and researchers at Lund University see a strong desire to safeguard the local growth. Small and independent shops, restaurants, cafes, bakeries and more have been truly vulnerable during the Corona crisis and we feel responsibility not only for the environment and the climate but now also for our space and surrounding area.

Stockholm Bränneri, based not far from Brunogallerian, is Stockholm’s first distillery since the government-run Vin & Sprit closed its production at Reimersholme. Since 2016 they produce organic and artisanal gin and aquavit spirits in a former Jaguar workshop located in the middle of eastern Södermalm. The production is small-scale and manual where a lot of love is given to each bottle that receives a unique batch and bottle number.

About three weeks ago, they began to produce hand sanitizer from the production residues from their gin production as an initiative to support friends in the severely exposed bar and restaurant business. The interest has increased and has also spread to other businesses and we are proud to present their sustainable and locally produced hand sanitizer online and in stores.

Stockholm Bränneri is founded by Anna and her partner Calle Wikner who are trained engineers with a great interest in food and drinks and gin especially. Anna:

“The project began when we lived and worked in Vancouver, Canada 2013-2015 and was inspired by all the available distilleries and breweries both in Vancouver but also along the west coast of the United States. The interest developed into a hobby and intense experimentation, which was then developed into a business idea to create an urban distillery in Stockholm. It took almost a year to find a place and in the summer of 2016 we were up and running.”

In 2019, 100,000 bottles of gin were produced and today Stockholm Bränneri  exports to about 15 different markets such as Denmark, Japan, Hong Kong, the UK and Germany.

“We went from two to three people in the fall of 2018 and now we have five full-time employees, which feels incredibly exciting. We have obviously been hit hard by the Corona situation, we’ve lost about 40 percent in gin sales and had just hired two new colleagues when the crisis hit. About three weeks ago, we started producing hand sanitizer from the production residues of our gin production as an initiative to support our friends in the severely exposed restaurant industry. The ambition is to quickly produce a product with high demand that we can sell almost without margin to the industry so that they can use it but also resell it and make a bit of profit.”

Photography by Linda Svensson-Lundhags