WRITTEN BY RICH MANNING /// PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PRAIRIE ORGANIC SPIRITS
NICE, MINNESOTA
PRAIRIE ORGANIC SPIRITS’ CO-OP MODEL SHINES THE SPOTLIGHT ON MINNESOTA FARMS
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f you do a Google search for Prairie Organic Spirits, one of the first phrases you’ll likely see is the term “farm crafted.” It jumps out because it’s not quite sprung from the lexicon of familiar artisan spirit terms like “handcrafted” or “grain-to-glass.” It also ends up cracking the door open to a unique conversation about how the subsidiary of the Princeton, Minnesota-based Phillips Distillery goes about producing their award-winning vodka and gin.
Open the door a little further by hopping on to Prairie’s website, and you’ll see a nice section devoted to their farming partners. There’s not much space devoted to a distiller or a rectifier, at least by direct name. It’s an approach that starts to resemble something vaguely familiar, but only if you’re also a bit of a wine nerd. If you are, it may hit you that Prairie Organic resembles a co-op, much like some of the village wines produced in Old World countries like France or Italy. In
those situations, there’s no vintner that stands out — all the glory goes to the people providing the grapes. Prairie’s emphasis on their Minnesota farming partners mirrors this approach. “It’s crucial for us to highlight the Minnesota farmers. They do all the hard work. Everything else is easy compared to what they do,” explains Laura Donnelly, vice president of marketing for Prairie Organic Spirits. “Minnesota weather can be brutal. Not only in the winter, but also in the summer, since it can get pretty warm. It’s not easy to farm in these conditions, so they deserve all the credit.” Prairie’s focus on its farmers also intensifies the narrative of spirits being an agricultural product at its core. This ultimately sets the table for a broader conversation on the brand’s philosophy on ingredients, sustainability, and doing right by the land. As such, the best way to dig into the brand is to talk to the farmers giving Prairie’s co-op model its juice.
“It’s crucial for us to highlight the Minnesota farmers. They do all the hard work. Everything else is easy compared to what they do.” — LAURA DONNELLY, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING FOR PRAIRIE ORGANIC SPIRITS
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