Southern Alberta honey winery toasting to sweet success in Japan market - Action News
Home WebMail Saturday, November 23, 2024, 03:56 AM | Calgary | -11.7°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Calgary

Southern Alberta honey winery toasting to sweet success in Japan market

Millarville's Spirit Hills winery is expanding its market to Japan. The Alberta company said when it learned how hard it was to sell to other provinces, it looked overseas to grow its business.

On a recent trade mission to Asia, Notley toasted growing trade partnership with Spirit Hills honey wine

Hugo Bonjean comes from a long line of French wine-makers. His family-run winery in southern Alberta makes honey-based wines from local ingredients like dandelions, saskatoon berrries and wild rose flowers. (Submitted by Hugo Bonjean)

A small family-owned winery in southern Alberta is toasting to its growing business in Japan.

On Rachel Notley's recent trade mission to Asia, she raised a glass to the growing partnership between Alberta and Japan.

The wine in her glasswas Millarville'sSpirit Hills honey wine which will soon appear on liquor store shelves across Japan.

Winery owner and operator Hugo Bonjean said the company sought out additional markets for its products when Alberta's economy started to decline, but he soon realized it wouldn't be an easy feat.

"We learned that it was actually very difficult as an Alberta producer to sell your product in other provinces in this country,so we decided to look at markets outside of Canada," Bonjeantold the Calgary Eyeopener.

Premier Rachel Notley toasted to a growing trade partnership with Spirit Hills honey wine on a recent trip to Japan. (Submitted by Hugo Bonjean)

Canada's current Intoxicating Liquors Act strictly limits producers' abilities to sell their product outside of their own province. Selling across provincial borders is only allowed with permission from the other province's liquor board.

Frustrated by these "mind-boggling" limitations, Bonjean contacted Alberta's Ministry of Economic Development, which helped him find new markets for their wines.

Bonjean said the keys to selling products in Japan areto have a quality product with good presentation and to have a story that makes the business attractive to consumers.

Spirit Hills think they have both.

Living off the land

Spirit Hills isa family-farm-based operation that lives primarily off the land they tend growing their own vegetables, hunting meat with bow and arrows, having chickens for eggs and goats for their milk and cheese.

Spirit Hills wine is currently sold in more than 200 stores across Alberta and Saskatchewan, but will soon start selling its products in Japan. (Submitted by Hugo Bonjean)

"That commitment to living off the land and pure ingredients, and growing things organically, and applying biodynamic practices is what really captured their interest, because they see that reflected in the quality of our wine," Bonjean said.

Spirit Hills prides itself on making Alberta wines with all-Alberta ingredients. Instead of grapes, the winery uses honey as its fermentable sugar and adds ingredients like black currants, saskatoon berries, dandelions and wild roses to create its wine.

Bonjean said wine-making runs in the family he comes from a long line of French wine-makers and expanding the business will allow the company to bring more family members into the fold.

Currently, the winery employs five people, but Bonjean expect that number will quickly grow.

"We have an application in with the municipality to see if we can double our building because we need to triple capacity to handle this," he said.


With files from the Calgary Eyeopener