26 October 2021
Customers
Meet Our Customer: Bax Botanics
We're delighted to introduce you to our customer, Bax Botanics. Founded and run by Chris and Rose Bax who have spent decades learning about and experimenting with botanical flavours.
I’m Rose Bax, co-founder of Bax Botanics. We distil alcohol-free spirit style drinks for people to enjoy when they’re not drinking alcohol. We use traditional copper stills and the most natural ingredients possible for our drinks. They’re full of vibrant botanical flavours and are free from sugar. Our classic serves are with bubbly Fever-tree tonic, but I love creating new pairings and this summer the Lemon Verbena Mule and the Sea Buckthorn & blood orange spritz have been great favourites.
The business started when my husband and I decided to use our edible plant knowledge to make drinks! Having spent 15 years teaching and inspiring others with flavours we decided to create a plant-based product to sell!
I think the uniqueness of our company lies in the authenticity of the products. We use herbs and botanicals that are sustainably grown and distil them ourselves in a time-honoured way, it’s like making rose water or perfumes Chris often says.
Our customers are quite varied, from people who have given up drinking alcohol completely to those who are cutting down. Generally, an increasing interest in health and wellbeing is pointing people toward the alcohol-free sector. It seems to be a worldwide phenomenon with interest from across the globe.
The future is looking rosy for Bax Botanics, there is a lot to learn, coming into the drinks business from outside, but we have a loyal customer base who love our drinks and we are growing steadily. Our plans are to grow the business whilst always looking for the most eco friendly ways to do it.
We buy from Organic Herb Trading because they offer the most sustainably sourced organic botanicals we can find. They also care for people and the planet as much as we do! Our business is based around ethical pillars, from our closed loop cooling system to our local suppliers, even our office is green. The environment is considered in every decision we make which earned us a ‘Global Good Award’ in 2020 for ‘best start up’, and it is one of my proudest achievements for Bax Botanics.
The provenance is of the botanicals is important, we choose herbs from suppliers closest to the UK to reduce transport. I know that Organic Herb Trading visit their herb farms, help with farming practices and checking quality. The Fairtrade aspect of our ingredients goes hand in hand with environmental sustainability – these are so important to us.
You asked about heroes… Ernest Shackleton of course comes to mind but someone more appropriate to the world of plants would be a botanist called Ida Roper born in 1865 who worked in a male dominated world gaining the respect of her peers. She wrote papers and created a notable herbarium, she became a fellow of the Linnean Society and the first female president of the Bristol Naturalists Society.
I would have loved to sit down with Ida and serve her a Bax Botanics Verbena and tonic, I’m sure she could have pinpointed the botanical flavours in there. People say it’s like a meadow of summer herbs!