Made from seven responsibly sourced garden botanicals, Drink Mary is the delicious, new low alcohol and calorie blend that has been much raved about by the press. At 6% abv, it’s for those not looking to give up alcohol entirely but simply looking for a healthier drink full of fresh flavour. We talk to the team about their story and eco-credentials.

What is Mary and where does the name come from?

Whilst ours isn't a heartfelt story of a namesake, it was more of the experience of naming one's child. We always wanted a female name. We felt that for a low alcohol botanical blend, we were going against the grain of traditional spirits – a particularly male dominated world of booze filled with your Jacks & Johnnies. We knew our product was different: light, fresh, green and unique in itself. The name 'Mary' struck a chord with us, we just all fell in love with the name and it stuck.

Mary is Certified Vegan, why is this important and what else do you stand for?

We've always been immensely proud of being able to offer a product that is better for the Earth and part of that includes being made from plants that are easy to source and produced sustainably.

What does sustainability mean to you personally?

It's a continuous journey for brands like us. Being a start-up and producing at a small scale, being fully sustainable isn't easy – and we openly acknowledge that. We are not about greenwashing and promising the Earth, but we're working at it every day and constantly working towards the goal of being a 100% sustainable product. We launched just 8 months ago, and since then we've already improved our bottle production to have a lower environmental impact, and our next step is to go entirely plastic-free in our packaging.

What challenges did you come across when looking into bottle packaging and why did you choose Flexi-Hex?

With a fragile product that ships direct to consumers, the question is always – what is the environmental impact of this? The carbon footprint of shipping, plus materials needed in the packaging itself to ensure the product ships in one piece. Those things weighed on us, and the last thing we wanted was to create even more waste, and even more carbon in the environment. So, we sought out sustainable options and found Flexi-Hex, and we never looked back!

What brands inspire you today?

B-Corp brands are where we aspire to be. And it's a long way off but we can definitely admire others who have tread this path before us!