There’s a thrill in knowing of a brand before it takes off. Here, we chat with two businesses heading for the big time at Bowerbird.

Ginny Pig Distillery’s Bec Cooper had a real pinch-me moment last December.

Just three years into their new careers as gin distillers, Bec and her husband Craig collected the trophy for the Champion Australian Micro Batch Spirit at the prestigious Australian Distilled Spirits Awards.

“We were invited to go to the award ceremony and we actually picked up the trophy,” she recalls, still with an element of disbelief about their Botanic Gin’s success. “That was massive [and] really confirmed to us that we were actually doing it – we were actually producing something that was really good.”

If you haven’t heard of Ginny Pig, the next Bowerbird market is a great place to get acquainted. It’s where Bec and Craig learned an important lesson in stock control.

“Our first market was just prior to Christmas. We had just had a short lockdown here in Adelaide and people hadn’t been able to do their Christmas shopping, [and] we were very unprepared.

“We didn’t take enough stock. There was a bit of a frenzy because of COVID, I think. We were coming home most nights and having to bottle, label and take back [stock for] the next day.”

While Bec and Craig offered tastings of the entire range, the limited-edition Christmas Gin was particularly well received. “It’s like drinking Christmas pudding,” Bec says.

Sales from that weekend gave Ginny Pig the impetus and the cashflow to invest in more equipment. Meanwhile, the feedback from Bowerbird customers was invaluable.

“They were standing there tasting it and talking to us about it. That was really good in our recipe development,” Bec says.

“We got some ideas from the customers who were saying, ‘Oh, well, it’s a little bit strong in this flavour’. So, we were able to tweak our recipes.”

The small distillery has aspirations for Australia-wide distribution and, as evidenced by trouncing the nation’s best spirit makers, its star is definitely on the rise.

Leaning into its success, the couple have turned their backs on their previous careers (they were both nurses) and moved to a large property at Tooperang on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which is also home to the distillery and, soon, their cellar door.

“They call it a sea change, don’t they? …It’s one we’re loving,” says Bec of uprooting everything in their early 50s.

Designer and artist Claire Ishino is also a Bowerbird alum – and has her own gin story.

“I didn’t actually know it at the time, but the graphic designer who worked on the first labels for 23rd Street Distillery, Andrew Downer, had seen my work at Bowerbird,” Claire says. “He emailed and mentioned he’d seen my work and would I be interested in working on one of the labels?”

That label adorns 23rd Street’s much awarded, world-beating Signature Gin, and her work now also graces their Rose Vodka and Violet Gin.

Artwork by Claire Ishino. Picture: Sia Duff

Originally a jewellery designer, Claire started sketching and producing art prints while living in Japan. A few years after returning to Australia, she heard about Bowerbird and applied to take part.

“For the very first one, I shared a store with Heather Harris from This Wee Piggy and we were tentatively treading into the market,” Claire says.

“I had several prints, I had boxes of greeting cards, and I remember taking a largish, original painting that I had painted. And it really just had to sit at the back wall that I was using at that event. So, not very big at all. This was a chance for us just to try it out.”

Claire says more important than the sales she made were the contacts she gained, including Elizabeth Donaldson of Brick + Mortar Creative, a store that later closed due to COVID restrictions, and Lisa Butler of Fleeci. “We’ve become very good friends,” she says.

Bowerbird events have led to meetings and collaborations with Dana Kinter, Kitty Came Home, Phoebe Lamps and Bob Window. Claire’s work has also been licensed to teNeues Publishing Co. in New York for use on stationery. However, she’s not yet a household name here. But that too could change.

One fan of her work purchased three paintings from a recent Bowerbird.

“It doesn’t happen at every event,” says Claire. “But she had seen that I was going to be there. She arrived early on a Saturday morning and came and looked at the paintings and said, ‘Yes, I’ll take them’. And I said, ‘Thank you very much!’”