By Argyro Vourdoumpa
Kayla Grigoriou is a South Australian gin distiller, coming from a family of passionate winemakers of Spartan heritage. When the coronavirus pandemic hit her community, she knew she had to help. So, she pivoted her Port Road distillery’s production line, to produce hand sanitiser.
“One night over dinner my parents, sister and I were discussing the effects COVID-19 was having not only globally, but more importantly on us, locally. We realised that we could make a small difference to our community by turning our still from making gin and start making ethanol for sanitiser.
“By running the still 24 hours a day, bottling, labeling and blending our unique ingredients we could not only diminish the shortage of sanitiser but we could also bring back a couple of our staff members who had their hours considerably reduced due to the effects COVID-19 was having on our company,” Grigoriou told The Greek Herald.
Kayla’s brand, ‘Needle & Pin’ is currently producing more than 2,000 bottles of hand sanitiser per day. She says, “we will continue making it, for as long as there is a need for it.”
Local winemakers hit hard
Kayla’s family has been operating their brand, Portia Valley Wines, for more than 40 years but this one, has been extremely hard especially for local winemakers.
The Australian wine industry has had a challenging start to the year, between bushfires, the coronavirus pandemic and trade wars in US and China markets.
“Covid-19, has just been another obstacle we have had to overcome this year,” Grigoriou said.
“We initially felt the effects of Covid-19 back in January when China was at it’s most vulnerable and shut down all sales. For us majority of our wine is distributed overseas – especially Asia. Locally, we have seen that people are buying more.”
The Grigoriou family resilience
Sustaining a family business for four generations comes at a cost but for the Grigoriou family, it’s a matter of drawing knowledge from their ancestors’ knowledge.
“Over four generations we have had different roles. Our family has taken the skills and knowledge of past generations to build upon what seems to be our family destiny!
“My father found that export was exceptionally important to the wine industry of Australia. We continue to move with our industry and as anyone tries to predict future trends, the ability to be fluid and willing to adapt is important for future growth,” Grigoriou said.
Although a fourth generation Greek Australian, Kayla keeps her Spartan heritage close to her heart.
“I will always remember the emotional power of storytelling left behind by my great grandfather growing up in Monemvasia and his stories of growing the Malvasia grape and the art of wine making has defiantly shaped us and me in particular. We are who we are today because of Pappou Christos. He certainly left a legacy”.
Asking what her advice to the future female gin distillers is, this is what she replied:
“It is fair to say that in the distilling business majority are men, but that’s not to say there aren’t amazing women distillers around the world. We have to fight a bit harder to be recognized and considered. My advice to the future female distillers is to go forward with it, guns blazing!
