Our Values
At ecoSIP, we are dedicated to one vision: letting the world drink single-serve portions of the best drinks available, at exactly the same quality they’d expect from a fresh bottle.
Why? To let people explore the incredible variety of drinks available, while helping us drink more mindfully and healthily, and having a positive impact on our environment.
Two wine-loving friends spotted a huge problem for the world of beverages during the lead-up to the COVID-19 pandemic: how to deliver single-serve portions to peoples’ homes, perfectly-preserved at a cost that was reasonable to most people in a world of free P&P from Amazon! It just wasn’t possible with traditional packaging, nor traditional production lines.
The challenge was way harder than they ever imagined. It turns out that wine is far more complex, and has far more ways of going wrong, than we’d ever imagined – and we’ve been studying and making wine for years. Perfection was incredibly hard to achieve.
However, after >1 million samples and more than four years of R&D, ecoSIP was born, solving a vast array of challenges using first principles thinking and utterly reinventing the way we understand wine aging.
We have sustainability at the heart of everything we do, from our product development, to our waste & recycling, all the way to our re-imagining the whole triple bottom line system of sustainability to ensure that we bring regular along with us rather than risk them rebelling against net zero initiatives.
It’s important to measure our efforts on these different respects, if they are to be truly sustainable:
Can you keep doing this to the environment forever, without damage?
Are the people making it able to live fulfilling, healthy family lives?
Is it economically feasible and beneficial?
Our new bottom line: is the net impact on the customers’ lives positive, or is it so burdensome that they won’t accept the compromises?
Every bit as important as the sustainability aspect, is the question of drinks quality. We’ve seen too many alt. formats accept big compromises in terms of the preservation. We were not prepared to compromise on that, so we set out asking the question “how can we beat glass?” not “how can we get close?”.
Our Team
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Alex Taylor
Founder – Engineer
Alex studied Engineering and Sustainability at Cambridge University. He spent 20+ years in the Electronics industry, designing and making everything from Slot Machines and Smartphones to Dog Trackers. After his first startup, Quixant (now Nexteq PLC) had its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, he decided to train in Winemaking and Viticulture at Plumpton College, England’s home of wine education. He met Jamie Smith in a wine bar in his home town of Berkhamsted where they bonded over a love of American winemakers and “Garagiste” winemaking.
A “first principles” thinker, he’s never happier than questioning accepted doctrine and bringing in wisdom from other sectors.
As well as making it himself, he has loved sharing his love of wine with The Online Wine Tasting Club since 2020.
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Jamie Smith
Founder – Wine Guy
Jamie has been in the hospitality industry since he was a teenager. He studied hospitality at Bournemouth before heading to the US, where he spent several years working at Disney World, before moving to Washington DC, where he entered the fine dining industry and moved into a wine fast track. He quickly moved up to head sommelier positions, gaining his CMS and CSW qualifications on the way, before managing high-end wine bars and restaurants. He moved back to the UK with his wife and had the misfortune of making friends with a naive man who wanted to own a vineyard in order to escape the world of electronics.
He is the winner of the IWSC Emerging Talent in Wine, a certified Somm and Wine Educator and the lead presenter of The Online Wine Tasting Club.
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Matt Benson
Operations Director & General Manager
Dedicated and results-driven manufacturing professional with over 12 years of experience at a management level. Proven track record of successfully delivering performance improvements across diverse manufacturing sectors. Adept at implementing efficiency enhancements, exercising rigorous cost control measures, and employing advanced analytical skills honed through Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification. -
Magda Bulska
Advisor – B2B Comms
Magda has over twenty years of experience in external communications for B2B brands. Having gained media relations, thought leadership, and digital content expertise in London-based PR agencies, she’s spent the last decade working for a global consulting company, telling stories about how technology is transforming businesses for a more sustainable future. Magda holds WSET Level 3 and Spanish Wine Scholar certifications, and is an active member of the wine Instagram community.