A trade war with the U.S., on-again off-again tariffs and an unpredictable economy would be enough to sideline the expansion plans of any company, but a Vancouver Island distillery remains convinced its award-winning product will be able to unlock the lucrative American market.
Langford-based Sheringham Distillery is about to expand its reach into Washington state and California with targeted consumer campaigns for five of its products in nine markets.
Co-founder Alayne MacIsaac said the decision to expand in the U.S. in the midst of so much turmoil was not an easy one. She said it was “touch and go for a while” but they believe if they can get the public’s attention, the 10 year-old company will be able to endear itself down south.
“One thing that people always want, no matter what, is … a brand with a story and they want authenticity,” she said. “We have that. They want something that’s good in a bottle. We have that.
“It’ll just be getting their attention so that when they’re ready to spend $39 on a bottle of gin, that they’ll try ours.”
The company will be sending bottles south to Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Spokane, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Monterey, San Diego and Orange County its Seaside Gin, Beacon Gin, Fresh Rhubarb Liqueur, Coffee Liqueur and Lemon Gin Liqueur.
MacIsaac said the products fall under the existing trade agreement with the U.S. and are not subject to tariffs, but that was not the only hurdle they were facing.
“We were already, as a company, dedicated to eating the tariffs as long as we could because we didn’t want to raise our prices — going into our second phase [of expansion] and wanting to move forward in the U.S., it didn’t make sense to add another $8 on the shelf,” she said.
But they are also facing a lull in consumer spending due to rising inflation and economic uncertainty.
“What we have done is we’ve changed our projections and our spends for this year. We’re still going to move forward and we’re still going to grow, but we’ve curbed our expectations,” she said. “We will still be able to make a mark and still be able to grow. We’ll see how this year pans out.”
The company is optimistic. Quietly over the last year, its products have started making inroads along the U.S. West Coast. The early indications are the gin is well-received and there is reason to believe they can grow as the next phase of expansion kicks in.
MacIsaac said the push now is a real launch that will involve creating more consumer awareness.
That means stepping out of the Canadian comfort zone and advertising “we’re the best.”
She said they have to be a little more bold in the U.S. to make a splash, but the message will remain essentially the same — that Sheringham is what the MacIsaacs call the most approachable and drinkable gin that takes a chef’s approach to distillation.
MacIsaac said her husband and master distiller Jason MacIsaac was a chef for more than 20 years and insists on bringing a balance of flavours, layers and depth to the spirits.
“And he’s been able to bring that to the still. With our spirits, we really wanted that West Coast feel, like a true story in every bottle,” she said.
To make their American splash on a limited budget, they are taking a “street-level approach” that involves focusing on pockets in both states with incentives, cocktail events, getting into stores to do tastings and being part of cocktail culture events in the new markets.
In June, for example, they will partner with a chef in San Francisco for an event with bites made with the gin products and cocktails featuring their spirits.
At the moment, the U.S. represents about 12% to 15% of Sheringham’s business, but MacIsaac notes it’s a huge market and California itself could at some point represent 25% of its business.
“It will take a few years, this doesn’t happen overnight, but like anything when you start to get some traction, it just keeps rolling and rolling,” she said.
The company, which was founded in Shirley in 2015 before moving to Sooke in 2018 and then to a 10,000-square-foot facility it built in Langford in 2023, said the new facility was established to handle expansion.
“We built it so we could do 20 times what we’re doing now,” said MacIsaac, noting they currently run their four stills twice a day when they are in production mode.
Currently the company, which has seven employees but a vast network of contractors and partners, ships its products to all Canadian provinces except Quebec. Its international shipping includes Japan and Taiwan and soon Belgium.
MacIsaac said expansion in North America has been strategic, while internationally it’s been a little more random.
“If a distributor comes to us and we can align and we have the same sort of ethos, then we’re like, great, let’s do this,” she said.
There are more expansion plans being considered that could include New York, New Jersey and Florida.
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