Wonki: A Sustainable Alcoholic Sip, Flavouring the Future

It’s human nature to choose beauty. Symmetry puts us at ease and helps us avoid danger. But our obsession with looks has created an ugly problem. Each year, Australia wastes over 7.3 million tonnes of food. One third of that is perfectly imperfect produce deemed ‘too ugly’ for supermarket shelves. It’s costing our planet and our wallets – with total food waste costing the Australian economy around $36.6 billion each year. Not to mention the livelihoods of Aussie farmers. Wonki’s challenge was threefold: How could they save misshapen produce, support local farmers and make delicious things out of would-be-waste.

Wonki makes imperfect produce premium with a seasonal vodka-soda, saving 2.75kg of funny-looking fruit per case. The final recipe took 6 months and 25 iterations to come to fruit-ition. Wonki’s seasonal framework allows flavours to fluctuate as the seasons do, negating costly R&D, saving produce when it needs saving the most. Their solution is intentionally hyper-local. Wonki work exclusively with local farmers, manufacturers, distillers, designers and couriers. By keeping their growth centralised, they are able to scale sustainably, maximising impact while minimising their footprint. Within 6 months, Wonki was on-boarded by BWS and Dan Murphy’s across Melbourne.

Despite being in-market for less than a year, Wonki has saved over 10 tonnes of produce from waste — a carbon emissions reduction equal to 25 tonnes. What’s more, it’s created a valuable lifeline for Australian farmers and local businesses in a tough economic environment. For customers, Wonki offers a healthier alternative to other alcoholic premixed beverages with no artificial flavours, low-sugar, and a lower alcohol volume. In its key demographic of 18-35 year olds, climate anxiety is real. Wonki empowers its audience to confront the topic head-on by providing a sustainable alternative in-market and encouraging meaningful conversation about food waste.

Doing good is exactly why Wonki tastes so good. But beyond the delicious taste and beautiful brand, sustainability is consciously designed into every step. Sourcing - Together with local social enterprise Farmer’s Pick, Wonki ensures timely rescue of seasonal surplus. Development - Flavours are iterated and validated with the community to ensure product-market-fit (reducing excess product risk). - Local juicers then produce a test batch, trialled with the community for final approval. - Juice pith becomes animal feed or compost in a closed-loop. - Gypsy Hub mixes juice with vodka from a local certified sustainable producer, Mahindra. - Poured into recycled cans (95% less emissions than glass bottles). - Challenge: Variable juice yield - excess product is filled into kegs and sold to venues, saving it from waste. Packaging - Initially cluster-packed using recycled PET, Wonki is transitioning to a KHS clip - made from robust cardboard removing the need for toxic ‘wet-chemicals’. - A kraft carton circumvents the need for excess ink - Wonki’s can designs for each flavour repurpose the same core elements, reducing production time and indirect Scope 2 emissions. Distribution - Initially stocked exclusively in Melbourne’s CBD to minimise distribution footprint. - Online orders shipped nationally with Sendle a carbon-neutral courier. - Every Wonki can opened starts vital conversations about food-waste.