The Gin Guild’s annual Ginposium gin industry event returns as an in-person event in 2022, at RSA House.
What is Ginposium?
The Leading Gin industry event, where some of the world’s most respected personalities and experts from the drinks and gin trade come together to discuss the state of the gin industry and share their knowledge and expertise on all things gin at this Gin Guild organised event.
2022 programme of presentations
| From | To | Details | Speaker(s) | Organisation | About |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:50 | 09:25 | Registration - with Coffee and Networking | |||
| 09.25 | 09.30 | Opening remarks and introduction to the Gin Guild. | Pal Gleed | The Gin Guild | Director General |
| 09:30 | 09:55 | ‘Fingerprinting Juniper’ Very merry berry - juniper is key to gin. The identification of specific markers for juniper. An update on Guild sponsored research. | Matthew Pauley | The International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University | Assistant professor and PhD student |
| 09:55 | 10:20 | Bottling it up. Do’s and don'ts when labelling and marketing gin (and non-gin beverages) | Jo Cook | Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards (The Guild’s Primary Authority partner) | Senior Trading Standards Officer |
| 10.20 | 10.50 | ‘Rest in peace’ - Post distillation finishing (filtration, proofing and resting) With samples. | Rachel Sutherland | Warner's Distillery | Liquid and Innovation Manager |
| 10:50 | 11:30 | Coffee and Networking | |||
| 11.30 | 12:00 | Routes for new brand launches - Routes for production of gin as part of funding, marketing, promotion and concept considerations. Production by new brand entrants themselves, or contracting out of production. | Kathy Caton Charles Maxwell | Brighton Gin Thames Distillers | With opportunity for questions from the floor Got a question you'd like to ask? Let us know in advance |
 | |||||
| 12:00 | 12.30 | Ginvestment: The business of gin - An overview of the Global Gin Market. The development of the global gin market through recent cycles, evolving consumer tastes and trends, geographic differences, corporate investment appetite and investor perceptions. | Chris Pitcher | Redburn (Europe) Limited | Partner who has worked in financial markets since the early 1990s, and has been writing investment research on the distilled spirits industry for over 20 years. |
| 12.30 | 13.05 | Tutored gin tasting - New for 22 The world of gin is a fast-paced environment with constant innovation and there have been many new releases since last year’s Ginposium. This session looks at some of the more interesting new releases, as well as gin trends on which to keep an eye. With samples | David T Smith | Summerfruitcup.com | Spirit Author and Gin Judge |
| 13:10 | 14.20 | Lunch and Networking | |||
| 14.20 | 14.40 | Moving parts Safety First - Safe use of ‘gin machines’. Compliance, control, assessment | Liam Matthews | The Health and Safety Consultancy Limited | Health and Safety Consultant |
| 14.40 | 15.15 | Harnessing the power of AI to increase gin sales - Until now, AI has been the exclusive domain of global technology companies, with the data and resources needed to make AI work. Smarter.ai has developed technology that allows gin companies to use their data and advanced AI techniques, to better understand customers, control costs and to increase sales more effectively. | David Pool | Oxford university based Smarter AI, main board director of TechUK | Co-Founder Also advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Committee and an experienced entrepreneur with specialisation in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and business intelligence. |
| 15:15 | 15.50 | Tea and Networking | |||
| 15:50 | 16.20 | The Coriander effect Examining the key role that coriander can play in gin | Ben Marston | Puddingstone Distillery | Co-owner |
| 16:20 | 16:50 | The Fever-Tree Story - Our part in the gin renaissance | Craig Harper | Fever-Tree | On-trade manager |
| 16:50 | 18:20 | Gin & Tonic and networking | Founder brands with Fever Tree mixers. | ||
“The Ginposium was a perfect blend of content – from professional advice to thought provoking new products”
Explore the 2021 presentations here:
The Distiller of London
Jared Brown/Anistatia Miller – The history of gin
Gin Ripples across the Pond
Natasha Bahrami – The Gin Girl: Gin and variants viewed from the USA
Gin distilling: from field to bottle
Kirsty Black, Head Distiller, Arbikie Distillery: Making your own base spirit (GNS)
The Richness of Nature
Rachel Sutherland, Flavour and Sensory Development Specialist, Warner’s Distillery: Developing a local true London Dry Gin reflecting local botanicals.
The State of Gin
Bernadette Pamplin (Chair)
Panel Discussion Juniper – Upfront and essential?
Aaron Knoll (Chair): How little is too little juniper for a gin to be considered a gin? A view from America.
Panel Discussion: What’s New?
Tasting with D T Smith (and panel)
Family Planning – Adding to the (brand) family
Rosie Milsom, Atom Brands: New Product Development
Winning Ways – Spirit Competitions – The benefit to brands
Dimple Athavia, IWSC (International Wine and Spirit Competition)
Patently Different – advances in still design
Abhi Banik, Head Distiller, Copper Rivet Distillery
Trespassers will be prosecuted
Nicholas Cook, The Gin Guild: Protecting the gin category
Scientific Exploration of Juniper
Matthew Pauley, the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University
Stay on top of Intellectual Property
Ciara Cullen, International law firm RPC: A helpful reminder and update on intellectual property issues.
For films of previous events and more
See www.theginguild.com
Find out more about the Gin Guild:
Gin Specification
The Guild only recognises gin styles produced by distilling ethyl alcohol in stills traditionally used for gin, in the presence of juniper berries and other botanicals – provided that the juniper taste is predominant.
About the Gin Guild
The Guild operates as a limited company, with the board of directors being appointed by the Worshipful Company Of Distillers, who hold the shares, and include brand owners, master distillers, associated industry representatives and those with wide gin industry experience.
The titular head of the Guild is the Grand Rectifier. The four largest distilling companies are represented by Founder Wardens. Other gin distillers are represented by Warden Rectifiers. Individual Guild members are known as Rectifiers.
Gin Guild Membership
Membership is open to all (subject to gin distillers and brand owners meeting the Gin Guild Gin specification).
Applications for membership of the Guild should be addressed to the Gin Guild Director General (see contact details).
Benefits of Gin Guild Membership
Networking & events
A key benefit of Guild membership is the opportunity to network. The Guild has at least two formal functions a year, at which Guild installations take place. Both offer exceptional hospitality and opportunities for key guests to be invited.
The Spring Installation is combined with the Gin Industry Annual Dinner. Our Autumn Gin Guild Installation event is the more formal of our two installations. It is held at The Mansion House, in the heart of the City of London. Members and their guests are also invited to join our parent company, the Worshipful Company of Distillers, at their Annual Banquet, which follows the Guild Installation.
Guild events offer a quality and worthwhile entertaining programme and support to Guild members, alongside participation in other events (including those of our own creation), to a wider audience.
Prestige and Recognition
Join and be an active member in an organisation supported by many of the world’s leading gin brands, their distillers and colleagues, and celebrate and promote excellence in the distillation and promotion of gin.
Showcase
We provide opportunities, especially for smaller members, to have their products made available to a wider and focused market.
Industry Events
The Guild organises and hosts one of the highlights of the year, the annual Ginposium. This is a one-day trade and industry conference, with many cutting edge seminars on gin topics, from production to marketing. Open to trade, industry, distilling students, and others interested in the subject, these events have been a great success. See film footage of previous events on our website.
Awards
The Guild sponsors key gin awards within the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC). These include the London Dry Gin of the Year and the Distilled Contemporary Gin of the Year.
The Gin Guild Website
The Guild website is an active resource, promoting events, lectures and member companies and brands. There is a members only section.
Gin-Note™
The significant growth in the number of distilleries producing gins means that there are now a growing and often confusing number of gin styles and tastes to navigate.
The Gin Guild, in consultation with over sixty brands, launched (copyright and Trade Mark), for use by brands. Gin-Note™ is intended to be a simple flavour indicator of a gin. It is not intended to replace a brands own label but is intended to be a navigational aid. Gin Guild brands listed to date with Gin-Note entries: www.theginguild.com/the-ginopedia
Category Protection
The Guild, working in conjunction with Trading Standards (with whom a Primary Authority partnership exists via Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards), also has a material role in enforcement and protection of the category. It calls out and seeks correction by beverage brands who claim their products are ‘gin’, but which do not comply with the EU/UK regulations which cover spirit production and sale.
The Guild, in connection with the above, by way of assistance and clarification has already published two key guidance notes interpreting the above regulations. These provide information on how to label no and low alcohol products which emulate (but which are not gin), and gin liqueurs. This guidance is known as Approved Guidance and is formally issued by our Primary Authority partnership, and approved by DEFRA.