Alcoholes of the finest quality

Interview with Grzegorz Grabowski Managing Director at Toruńskie Wódki Gatunkowe.

Quality is something you put first. Are customers are still faithful to quality despite rising prices? How do polish people view premium categories and what is the attitude of foreign consumers to high-end liquors?

In terms of pure vodkas, the premium category has its value, while in flavored alcohols it is still a journey and a search for novelties. Customers want to be surprised, but at the same time they expect safe products in the premium space. Toruńskie Wódki Gatunkowe can boast of such products - in the case of premium vodkas, it will be, for example, Wódka Jednorodna Spelt, awarded a gold medal in the Warsaw Spirit Competition, or Retman Vodka Crystal and Strong, which received a silver medal in the San Francisco World Spirit Competition. Both Polish and foreign consumers look for value in tasting alcohols, combine them in foodpairing and mixology, discovering new flavors and the culture of drinking vodka.

Please tell us about the production facilities and original recipes of your drinks.

The high quality of the spirit is due not only to carefully selected raw materials and experienced staff, but also to the 5-column rectification apparatus, unique in Europe, produced by the Italian company Mussi. Selected spirits (potato, spelled and other cereal spirits) are kept in dedicated tanks. All macerates are made on the basis of our original recipes with the use of fruit and spices. Together with our clients and on their behalf, we discover a new area in combining various spirits in pure vodkas.

Is there room for innovation in the production of traditional, craft spirits?

It is a forge of innovation! We recall forgotten spices, varieties and types of fruit, we combine them with each other. There are also different types of honey. We focus on the classics, offering flavors such as plum with clove, cherry, slivovitz, but also on modernity (raspberry with chilli, juniper combined with coffee).

Alcohols produced in Toruń were known in Europe, Asia and Africa already before World War I. What range do you currently have, in which countries are your drinks particularly popular?

We are challenged by the whole globe - mainly Europe and the United States, but in the spirit of “a drop hollows out a rock”, we also develop projects in the Asian direction. This is a long-term action, but we are already seeing a large increase in interest in Polish spirits.

Please tell us more about your export offer.

We are open to cooperation with foreign business partners, to whom we can offer the sale of our products and our brands, as well as private brands (“private labels”) owned by a foreign distributor.

We provide comprehensive export services: from preparing product labels for a particular country, preparing the necessary phytosanitary documentation to the organization of transport and customs procedures. We deliver the selected goods literally to the provided address.

We help to implement clients’ projects by providing them with our spirits as a composite for production, i.e. spirits in tanks or sold in IBCs.

How to meet the challenges brought by 2023 - please comment from the manufacturer/exporter.

The year 2023 greeted us with a crazy increase in the prices of dry materials (bottles, labels, closures, collective packaging), a five-percent increase in excise duty on the domestic market. We have decided to implement projects closer to the client - we create micro and macro local brands with the participation of components and recipes from various parts of Poland and the world.

What are your plans for the coming months and years? Investments, news or maybe some changes in the portfolio?

For Toruńskie Wódki Gatunkowe, 2023 will be marked by new products and investments. Soon, a new line of vodkas from the Toruńska brand will be launched, which has undergone rebranding of the packaging - standard flavors will be available in a new bottle with a changed label. Our other flagship products will also be refreshedŚliwowica Polska and Hubertówka Leśna. There will certainly be new flavors under these brands. We are also preparing to expand and enrich the business offer addressed to companies and to develop the project of individual private labels with small volumes, e.g. by introducing personalized packaging.

Thank you for the interview.

The past year has set many challenges to Modern Expo… How could you sum up the year of 2022, were there any successes in spite of difficulties?

In this context, I think we should go back to the roots. To something people sometimes call the spirit of the company. I would not like it to sound like a cliché but Modern Expo is a very nonstandard organization, for at least two reasons. First, each problem we encounter is relatively quickly transformed into a market opportunity. Secondly, we are helped in this regard by a unique organizational culture. In case of ME, this is not just about pictures and slogans. For many years, we have been putting great emphasis on this component, and it is paying off today. We follow specific, transparent principles and values. The past year must have been very difficult for everyone, or indeed traumatic. To us in particular, as we are a Polish-Ukrainian enterprise. In the human aspect, it is incomparable with the previous ones. From the business viewpoint, however, this is just another stage of our transformation. In one fell swoop, both the Russian market and the Ukrainian one were lost to us, so we had to try to acquire new areas quickly. And, of course, we made it. The case was similar with the COVID-19 pandemic, and there had been other important turning points before that. We have been present on the retail trade market for almost 30 years and we are really not easily surprised.