The growth we are most interested in is that that belongs to the trees. We are occasionally asked how we intend to scale the business, what growth model we intend to apply, if we aspire to bank the first million and start taking holidays in exotic locations with sparkling coastlines and no apple trees!

That is not what Artistraw is. First and foremost our mission is to be an example of sustainable living and to reach a genuine zero carbon existence without the murky dark art of offsetting. Our passion for this project extends to what Tom and I can make with our own hands, always and unwaveringly to the best of our ability and never pursuing growth for growth’s sake. Our fruit will always be carefully selected by hand from unsprayed traditional standard orchards and our batch sizes will always be reflected in the rarefied nature of the fruit and the uniqueness of the wild yeasts we work with.

The unbridled pursuit of growth that seems to so obsess humankind is what keeps me awake at night. Life’s simple yet rewarding pleasures have been replaced by a drip of constant, often meaningless gratification; the reflection on the surface of a pond, idled over by water boatmen, shattered by silver fish has been replaced by the glassy glare of screens with shallow depths. If this miserable exchange were only to be endured by ourselves it would be intolerable enough but unfortunately we have chosen to subjugate and condemn the rest of the planet in our pursuit of endless advancement. In this instance I believe there is nothing so withering as growth.