Square One® Organic Vodka

Square One® Organic Vodka: A Different Kind Of
Drinks Company

Imagine a Northern California-based artisanal start-up that relies on organic ingredients, takes exquisite care in everything from fermentation through bottling, and hand-sells its products in fine restaurants, hip bars, and high-end retail shops. You may be thinking, "I must have heard of this winery." But Square One® Organic Spirits LLC doesn't make wine at all. It produces the world's first vodka made from organically grown and organically fermented rye. Such a breakthrough product could come only from a company that represents a radical departure from other spirits producers in the U.S.

Square One's founder and CEO Allison Evanow is a wine and spirits industry veteran who envisioned a drinks company unlike any she had worked at before. So instead of building her company from a typical corporate endpoint, such as a margin target or brand position, she started with how she and family and friends actually live their lives: They have fun socially, while being socially conscious.

For Evanow, being true to herself is the "square one" that everything starts from. So she wanted to create a great spirit in a spirit of great fun, and make sure that it was also good for the earth. This is why Square One® was able to create a totally new kind of vodka. Because it's committed to broader goals than conventional spirits companies, the Square One® team was able to imagine taste and texture qualities that no other vodka has-and bring them to life with a business model that most conglomerates would never consider.

For example, Square One® Organic Spirits, LLC is determined to lead the U.S. spirits business' movement toward organic production, committed to maintaining its female majority ownership, and preparing to donate a target percentage of its annual after-tax profits to nonpolitical environmental causes. Furthermore, along with creating unexpected line extensions and innovative marketing ideas, Square One® employees and partners are urged to maintain a balance between their work and their lives. The company supports them in this by offering job-sharing, flextime, and virtual office options.

For everyone who considers having a cocktail with friends a great way to have fun, and being socially conscious a great way to live, there's finally a vodka that embodies them both: Square One®.

Sharing the same environmental values and entrepreneurial spirit, CCA's Kimberly Charles is a founding partner in Square One, in addition to directing public relations and special events for Square One.