Student's home brews led to big Wetherspoons deal... and a very bitter fall out

Jul 06, 2023

Zymurgorium's business exploded almost overnight after it was praised by LadBible, but a row with wholesalers saw it locked in a lengthy legal row

It was the kind of overnight success story every small business owner dreams of. Aaron Darke set up Salford-based Zymurgorium gin company shortly after leaving university in 2012.

But a fall-out, leading to a lengthy and bitter court battle that has taken years to resolve, would be triggered by a friend secretly exploring the idea of starting his own range - and a deal Mr Darke's company struck with pub chain Wetherspoons.

Aaron Darke was studying microbiology at university when he began experimenting with brewing alcohol in the shed of his family home in Northern Moor.

With his nascent company specialising in new and playful flavours like sweet violet, Turkish delight, cherry bakewell and a marshmallow gin called 'Realm of the Unicorn', Darke began marketing his gin around Greater Manchester.

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To begin with, business was slow. During the first 11 months of 2015 there were only 42 sales to eight customers. Eager to expand his business, in mid-November 2015 Mr Darke set up a meeting with Jonathan Hammond, managing director of long-established drinks wholesaler Hammonds.

The two men got on well. Impressed by the brand and its founder, Mr Hammond initially agreed to take a dozen bottles of each of the eight flavours Zymurgorium produced.

It was the start of a fruitful business relationship for both parties. And it also marked the beginning of what a judge described as a 'personal friendship' between Mr Darke and Mr Hammond that 'went beyond that strictly necessary for a business relationship'.

The exact details of what was or wasn't agreed at that very first meeting would, several years later, see the two firms locked in a bitter legal battle, the details of which have been revealed by recently published court papers.

A recent Court of Appeal case heard that with the partnership with Hammonds in place Zymurgorium began to steadily grow. But then, almost overnight, trade went through the roof. It was all thanks to a social media post from viral news site LadBible describing Zymurgorium's Manchester Sweet Violet Gin Liqueur as 'bloody delicious' and 'the perfect treat'.

Sales rocketed from 60,000 bottles in 2017 to more than 540,000 the following year. With business booming, Hammonds struck deals with a number of major and high-profile players in the drinks industry, including Greene King, Booths supermarkets, Bargain Booze and crucially JD Wetherspoons.

By July 2018 Hammonds' monthly sales of Zymurgorium products topped £1m and in November 2018 alone they exceeded £1.7m. But cracks in the relationship were starting to show.

In early 2018 Hammonds began secretly exploring the possibility of creating its own range of 'Victorian sweet shop' gin liqueurs with flavours such as sherbet lemon, and liquorice and blackcurrant. The initial idea was to call the brand Imaginarium.

The judge described the plan as 'extremely confidential and in particular kept from Zymurgorium'. And the deal with Wetherspoons was also causing problems.

Zymurgorium had started to have direct contact with the pub company and, in December 2018, Hammonds discovered the firm had arranged to sell its products to Wetherspoons via another wholesaler. Mr Hammond wrote to his friend Mr Darke saying that was a 'serious breach' of their agreement which meant their 'commercial relationship' had come to an end.

The fall-out led to a protracted legal battle that would take almost two years to resolve. Zymurgorium made a claim for unpaid invoices. Hammonds lodged a counterclaim for damages for breach of contract, saying the agreement reached at the original meeting in November 2015 gave the wholesaler an exclusive deal to supply Zymurgorium's drinks.

The two sides thrashed out their arguments during a nine day trial in Manchester in May and June 2021. In a long and detailed ruling published in August that year a judge ruled Zymurgorium was entitled to interest on the invoices.

However the judge ruled there wasn't an 'overarching or master agreement' between the two companies, but found there were individual contracts in relation to five customers, including Wetherspoons.

By dealing directly with the pub company Zymurgorium had breached the terms of that contract, the judge said, and by doing so had also repudiated the other four contracts. Hammonds was entitled to claim damages for the breach, the judge.

But the court battle didn't end there. Both sides appealed the ruling - with Hammonds arguing it hadn't gone far enough, and Zymurgorium sticking to its original case - and, in December, the case ended up at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Earlier this year a panel of three appeal judges published their rulings following the latest hearing. Both appeals were rejected. That means Zymurgorium faces a bill for damages - the amount of which is not yet known - but it's unlikely to be as much as Hammonds had argued they were due.

Zymurgorium and Hammonds have both been approached for comment.