GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — What do you get when you take a former Minnesota Viking, add in a couple Minnesota insurance guys, a digital marketing dude and an auto glass repairman? Gray Duck Vodka, of course.
“None of us were in the liquor industry before,” says former Minnesota Viking Chad Greenway.
It's true. While the children's game has been around forever, Jerry Schulz got the idea to turn it into something more after the infamous Duck, Duck, Gray Duck touchdown celebration by Kyle Rudolph and the Minnesota Vikings.
"If it's that big of a deal in Minnesota, why don't we have our own brand of vodka? And that's kind of where it came to be,” says Jerry Schulz.
Boom. Gray Duck Vodka was born. Five guys with no background in spirits just busting their butts to make it happen, even bottling and labeling themselves to get the product out the door.
“We've just been trying to hustle every day get our brand out and be Minnesota's vodka,” says Greenway.
But, as we like to do here in the Bold North, it couldn't just be vodka. It had to be bigger than that. It had to be Minnesota's Vodka. The corn is grown in Benson, Minnesota. The bottling done in Brooklyn Park. And the vodka itself, well that is sold locally too.
"We're now in five states. We initially launched in Minnesota last august and in the fall of last year we picked up both Dakotas. In about March, we launched in Iowa, and in the last month or six weeks, we've been launched in Wisconsin,” says Greenway.
Hyper-local is important to the guys behind Gray Duck, from supporting farmers to giving back to the very communities purchasing the product. They raised 20 thousand dollars at Summer Jam this year, money that will go to University of Minnesota's Masonic Children's Hospital.
“That's really our next step this year, is how much more can we give back to the community while our brand continues to grow?” Says Greenway
Speaking of that brand, it's getting a bit of attention already. Three tasting competitions, three gold medals.
“Three gold medals which means you scored 90 points or higher out of 100 in all these competitions, which we've found out is good, he laughs."
Oh, and one more double gold for that super-duper nifty label they created. Not too shabby for a little Minnesota start up.
“A crazy idea born from a touchdown celebration, and here we are, it's hard to believe, over a year later, we can sit here and have a conversation with you talk about the brand and how far it's come, and where we're going,” says Schulz.
By the way, Gray Duck Vodka is made of corn so it’s gluten-free. You can buy it pretty much anywhere they sell booze.