Verstill is an Israeli start-up that has created unique production technologies to enable the development and production of premium quality spirits within weeks. The production is highly controlled and highly efficient, yet the integrity of the product remains intact.
The global spirit industry's sales have steadily grown by an average of 1-1.5% a year over the past few years. In the United States alone, the spirit market is valued at approximately $70 billion a year. It’s no wonder why Matan Edvy and Yechiel Ben Zvi, founders of Verstill, are trying to tap into this market (no pun intended). However, beer and spirit drinkers alike are moving toward consuming local and craft brands, for they are seeking new and unique experiences and flavours.
The market for small and local alcohol brands is estimated at $6.1 billion in the United States, showing a value growth of 27% to 30% annually over the last few years. Local breweries and the spirits industry must keep up with rapidly changing trends, as new flavours are constantly being sought out. So, brands and manufacturers, large and small, need to think fast and innovate even faster to respond swiftly to the market demands for constantly changing flavours and profiles. To do so without sacrificing the quality and taste of the product can prove challenging for manufacturers. Logistically, and financially, addressing the changing trends is a bit of a nightmare. Usually, to do so successfully, it requires a large capital investment and, in the case of a maturing product, inventory investment, which could end up in the trash as the trend may no longer be relevant when the product has finally matured and launched.
Here lies the magical touch of Verstill. They have developed innovative production technologies that allow absolute control over the spirits' distillation and maturation process. The technology is facilitating brands around the world to expand their business and respond efficiently and quickly to changing trends by producing top-quality, premium spirits at a fraction of the time of traditional production methods. It minimizes the development costs by up to 90% when compared to the traditional processes, allowing companies to increase their profits by up to 50% annually. Verstill installs it's production technologies in local distilleries (saving setup requirements and time for brands), then once they have developed a product together, Verstill uses their management technology to significantly streamline the overall supply chain. Verstill has already built a research, development, and production facility in Israel, and is in the process of establishing production centers in New Jersey and New York, while also building strategic collaborations in the US market.
"We wanted to take our passion for great flavours and products and make it more accessible to mass markets. As part of our path in building a distillery, we realized, that while many brands produce great raw materials for distillates (beer, wine, and others), the budgetary and time threshold for entering the world of distillates is too high for them, despite the potential to produce excellent and profitable products. Nowadays, the reaction time, that is - the development of the concept, perfecting the flavour, maturation time, bottling and distribution - make any move of this sort, complex, expensive and sometimes not worthwhile.” – Verstill’s founders Matan Edvy and Yechiel Ben Zvi
A ‘pitcher-perfect’ match
Following a successful collaboration pilot last year between Verstill and Malka, an Israeli-based craft brewery, the two companies have agreed on collaborating to expand Malka’s spirits portfolio. The first item on the menu- launching the second edition of Distilled Malka, which is Malka's excellent blonde ale (brewed with orange peels and coriander seeds) distilled using Verstill’s unique process, forming a new alcoholic beverage that concentrates existing aromas and flavours into a new and exciting spirit.
“We are very much excited about the collaboration and products under development that are expected to be released in the following year. The Distilled Malka second edition is proof of our scaled distillation technology. We are launching it following a successful market test last year that resulted in reactions far beyond our expectations - we sold about 1000 bottles within 5 weeks and got extremely positive responses from professionals and consumers alike", Edvy and Ben Zvi concluded.
Verstill was established in 2016 and has raised more than $3.2 million since its inception. The company was founded by Matan Edvy, a serial entrepreneur, distiller and winemaker, and Yechiel Ben Zvi, a chemist who moved to Israel from the United States.
