It's Tru, an Organic Spirits Company Exists

TRU Organic Spirits Co. claims to be America’s only sustainable spirits line. The company produces vodkas and a gin from 100 percent organic, American-grown wheat and is infused with whole and organic ingredients.

Based in Monrovia, Calif., the company launched nationally last year, and the products are sold in 38 states. The product line contains regular organic vodka, two flavored organic vodkas (lemon, vanilla) and TRU2 organic gin. The suggested price is $34.99 per 750ml bottle.

The organic line evolved directly from the work of Modern Spirits Co. with farmers, which provide many locally grown and market-fresh ingredients for the infused vodka line. Modern Spirits owner and founder Melkon Khosrovian wanted to avoid using a huge amount of resources and producing waste to make one bottle of liquor. “We felt everything had to change, we felt that we had to turn the whole product organic,” he said. With heightened concern for destructive farming practices, Khosrovian and his wife Litty Mathew “began to see the world differently. Everything mattered. Why do you need this? Let’s cut everything out.”

Apart from the organic ingredients, the spirits maker makes sustainability a priority, using recycled, recyclable or biodegradable materials for packaging, and 25 percent less glass in their bottles compared to typical spirits bottles, which means the bottles weigh less. Bottle labels are printed on tree-free paper with soy-based inks, and the bottle’s corks are synthetic and recyclable. Marketing materials are printed on tree-free or recycled stock.

TRU adopted the motto: “Drink it. Plant it.” It partnered with nonprofit organization Sustainable Harvest International to plant a tree in tropical zones for every bottle of TRU purchased. Last year, TRU planted over 55,000 trees. To communicate the company’s message to consumers, TRU works with local and independent restaurants to promote the tree-planting program. During “TRU Tuesdays,” the company plants a tree for every TRU cocktail sold. Khosrovian said it's an incentive for consumers “where every cocktail has a meaning behind it.”