INDLOVU

IBHU’s Story

Some brief background, my name is Paula Ansley and, together with my husband (Les), have jumped into the world of gin. We recently moved the family back to South Africa after spending 15 years in the UK (Les is South African). Both Les and I were in academia doing research and lecturing but became disillusioned and yearned for the opportunities that we felt South Africa offered both in terms of enterprise and also being able to make a difference.

Shortly after we arrived, I had an opportunity to go to Kenya on safari and it was while I was sipping a G&T while watching a herd of elephants listening to the guide explain how particular elephants are in their browsing habits and yet how little of the plant material they actually digest that I had this crazy idea … would it be possible to make an elephant dung based gin?

So we did.

That is how Indlovu gin was born – a gin made in Africa … designed by elephants. ‘Indlovu’ is the word for elephant in several African languages and we use the foraging habits of the world’s largest land animals to select the botanicals used in the ginning process.
We felt that it was important that the brand is underpinned by a strong conservation message. So 15% of the profits from the sale of the gin are donated to the Africa Foundation to support their work in wildlife conservation, we also support Langrug Soup Kitchen, Franschhoek with gas for cooking.

As part of our commitment to South Africa, we are also very excited that we have been awarded Proudly South African status. We are also very pleased to have been mentioned as one of the top three South African gins of 2018 by influencer and gin blogger Surita at Ginnedup with recent national and international media coverage including the BBC, CNN, GQ magazine, The Times newspaper, London. The gin was well received at the World Travel Market in Cape Town last month – the gin is proving most popular with overseas visitors as a truly Africa-centric take-home gift.