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By translating the mystique and purity of icebergs into an internationally-acclaimed product, the Iceberg Vodka Corporation has tapped into a recipe for success.

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On the rocks
Canadian company's innovative use of a Newfoundland resource is shaking up the international vodka market
By Katie Wallace

The aptly named Iceberg Vodka is the only vodka in the world made from icebergs, a source of water so pure that contaminants are undetectable, even in parts per quadrillion. Every spring the company harvests tonnes of glacial ice gathered off Newfoundland’s east coast, from the region’s famous Iceberg Alley, and processes the bounty at their facility in St John’s.

David Hood, Iceberg Vodka Corporation senior vice president, explains that his company originally was eyeing the bottled water market. But, says Hood, the purity of iceberg water also makes it particularly susceptible to microbial contamination. His company’s solution: add alcohol. The company now blends iceberg water with alcohol that is triple-distilled from Ontario sweet corn.

Founded in 1994, the company began gathering its first icebergs a year later. Hood, who takes part in at least one harvest a year, knows firsthand the physical challenge of trying to haul a three-, four- or five-tonne chunk of hard ice onto a fishing boat. And that’s just a chip off the old ice block, as some icebergs weigh in at an astounding 500 million tonnes. Hood and his crew of fishermen only net "growlers" or "bergie bits," chunks of ice that have fallen off the main body of an iceberg. The ice is crushed and melted, then blended and bottled locally by the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation.

The government of Newfoundland, which issues water usage permits, regulates the harvest. Hood says he is unconcerned that red tape might someday complicate the supply of his company’s crucial icy ingredient. As he puts it, Iceberg Alley is essentially death row for icebergs as they melt into the Atlantic Ocean on their southerly path, so the company’s environmental impact is minimal.

In 1998, the company shipped 10,000 cases of vodka; this year they expect to sell close to 250,000. But, unlike its premium competitors that spend millions on advertising and packaging each year, most of Iceberg Vodka’s market growth has occurred through guerilla marketing and word-of-mouth. "We don’t advertise because it’s in the bottle," Hood says. "We’ve always promoted what’s in the bottle, not the bottle itself, as what’s important."

Now widely available in Canada and the U.S., Iceberg Vodka has moved into the international market. It is sold in Russia — who grapples with Poland over being the birthplace of vodka — as well as in warmer nations not traditionally associated with vodka consumption, such as Israel and Australia. In February, Hood travelled to the Middle East to promote the product, and try to broker distribution deals in the region.

Pure and uncontaminated, just like its source.

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