Law as a lottery – or gin as protest?

Why a small distillery with 20 employees suddenly faces existential challenges due to a lawsuit
An essay by Max, founder of THE DUKE Distillery

Many of you know it—and many of you wouldn't want to be without it: our non-alcoholic "Entgeistert." It has filled countless glasses and provided moments of enjoyment. But then, suddenly, a letter arrived. From a lawyer.

Sender: An association with the pleasant-sounding name “Social Competition”.
But we found neither one nor the other in this case – more on that in a moment.

The accusation:
We would be violating the lien law and would therefore have to answer to the court.
The damage: around 68,000 euros.

How did this happen?

The lawsuit
In Germany, alcoholic beverages such as gin, wine or sparkling wine are exempt from deposits – as are their non-alcoholic counterparts such as dealcoholized wine or sparkling wine.
So we—like the entire industry—assumed that non-alcoholic gin wouldn't be subject to a deposit. After all, non-alcoholic spirits didn't even exist when the law was written.

The above-mentioned association apparently saw this legal loophole as an opportunity – and decided to sue us as an example.
Our research revealed that the association cooperates with large alcohol companies. Strangely, no lawsuit was filed against them.
Anyone who thinks evil of this is a scoundrel.

The verdict

At the regional court, the judge recognized the legal loophole and ruled in our favor. Her reasoning:

"No one understands why alcoholic spirits should be deposit-free, but non-alcoholic spirits should not. The law must apply equally to all market participants."

However, in the appeal process everything turned out differently:
Another judge ruled that we had to charge a deposit because there was no explicit exception for non-alcoholic spirits. When we pointed out that we would then be the only ones in all of Germany complying, he said something like this:

“Then sue everyone else.”

Thanks – but no thanks.
We're not suing our colleagues. We're all in the same boat.

The consequences

We are a medium-sized company with 20 employees – and like many others, we are struggling through these difficult economic times.
And then: this lawsuit.

The result:
– Sales stop from today to tomorrow
– Withdrawal from the trade
– Falling sales
– High procedural costs (including those of the opposing party!)

Why don’t we simply introduce deposits?
Because supermarkets don't accept non-alcoholic spirits with deposits—and they don't have to . Instead, they simply sell the products of the big industrial companies. They—coincidentally—weren't sued.

Our protest

This procedure shows how vulnerable small businesses are:
– How easily powerful associations with questionable motives can issue warnings
– How contradictory judgments are
– And how absurd a legal situation is that does not protect but endangers

Things cannot remain this way.
We need legislation that is clear – and fair.
The law must not be a lottery in which individuals are arbitrarily affected.

Your support counts

In order to continue our existence, we have launched a Startnext campaign :
👉 www.startnext.com/gin-als-protest

With your help, we want to make a statement – for justice, for fairness, for small businesses.
So that we can continue to provide you – our loyal GINoisseurs – with enjoyable moments in the future.

Order a bottle, share the post – every support counts.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time, your support and your solidarity.

Cheers – whether with or without deposit,

Your Max from THE DUKE

* We as a company have since reacted and found a deposit-free solution by selling our Entgeistert in stoneware bottles. Absurdly, these are generally deposit-free , regardless of the contents. Whoever wants to can understand that . What remains is the damage.