How to build a brand for locals… with Alex Wolpert, founder of East London Liquor Company

Based in east London’s Bow Wharf, East London Liquor Company is a local brand for local people.

The door is always open

Making sure that our brand home is more than just a distillery was always really important to us. Having our stills, office, bar, bottle shop and restaurant all in the same place means we can give our local community more than just rent to the council. First and foremost, we want to be somewhere our locals can have an end of day drink or grab a bottle of booze on their way home from work (we even have the vicar from the church across the road dropping in for a G&T each week). 

Being transparent is a big part of how bring we our neighbourhood into our business.

We’re all about being that relaxed neighbourhood bar where you won’t be judged if you start with a Guinness and having physical doors to welcome neighbours through is priceless. We know their faces and they know our faces. That’s what it’s all about: using what we’re doing to give our neighbourhood something that wasn’t here before and that makes us so much more than just a bottle on a shelf. 

Tours also form a backbone of how we outreach to both local businesses and customers for people to gain a better understanding of what we actually do here. Being transparent (and quite literally having our stills sitting behind our bar) is a big part of how bring we our neighbourhood into our business and I like to think it’s a big part of what keeps them coming back. 

Whether it’s how we look or how we sound, we’ve dug deep to make sure that the new East London Liquor is all about celebrating our little corner of town.

Here to celebrate, not take

If you’ve been paying close attention, you might have noticed we re-branded in the middle of lockdown, moving away from our original nod to the old glue factory that used to be based in our distillery building. 

Although it was sad to see the upside-down horse go, we wanted to work harder to bring out the vibrant, fast-paced energy that’s all over east London. That’s why you’ll now see the iconic bend of the River Thames in our signature ‘smiler’ and our ‘found alphabet’ calling out local graffiti, street signs and symbols across our branding.

I don’t think you can underestimate the value that sharing the same perspective as your neighbourhood can have on your neighbourhood.

Whether it’s how we look or how we sound, we’ve dug deep to make sure that the new East London Liquor is all about celebrating our little corner of town, rather than turning it into something it never was.

We make gin not margins

Our north star has always been to make great spirits that don’t cost the earth. We get so fed up with seeing brands hike their prices because they’re using a fancy bottle or textured label. Instead, just like our local community, we do what we say on the tin – “Decent booze, for decent people, at decent prices.” I don’t think you can underestimate the value that sharing the same perspective as your neighbourhood can have on your neighbourhood.

Project refill

Being able to physically host and serve our neighbours in our home means we benefit from picking up the kinds of things they want and stand for.

We know that our local community care about the place and planet that they live in, which is why they gave us the confidence to launch an onsite scheme where we offer refills of our East London Gin, Vodka and Rum in empty spirits bottles by other brands. It doesn’t cost less, but it’s a better way to buy ‘more stuff’ and our locals love that we’ve listened to what’s important and given them a chance to make the right choice.

Being able to physically host and serve our neighbours in our home means we benefit from picking up the kinds of things they want and stand for. It inspires a lot of the ideas the team come up with, and Project Refill is just one of them.