‘My passion is the culture both within and around the spirit industry, to create world-class quality products and bring them to the market’: Martin Hallberg, CEO of Feddie Ocean Distillery

“Our brand Feddie, representing 100% women investors, has been a part of defining what Norwegian whisky is and has created quite a few new female investors in the marketplace in general."

The island of Fedje is an exquisite gem located off the western coast of Norway. Fedje, as seen from the ferry, epitomizes a beautiful blend of natural beauty, rich history, and a tight-knit community.

Nestled within this coastal paradise is the Feddie Ocean Distillery, a one-of-a-kind artisanal distillery. Martin Hallberg, an award-winning leader in the restaurant and worldwide alcohol distribution industries for many years, now leads this extraordinary, forward-thinking Norwegian firm. With Team Feddie, he aims to place Feddie Ocean Distillery on the global stage.

In an exclusive interview with The Silicon Review, Martin Hallberg provided a captivating insight into the unique characteristics of Feddie Ocean Distillery, shedding light on its objectives and future plans.

Interview Highlights

Q. How would you describe your professional journey so far? Tell us about a few roadblocks and learning lessons that helped you grow through the years.

I have worked in the spirits industry for 23 years. And from the very start of my career, I decided to do everything it took to become very good in this business. I achieved a 360-degree perspective on the industry. I wanted to know every part of the complete value chain in order to get a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities for this specific industry in general and for the Norwegian market specifically. Norway is considered to be the "darkest monopoly market" in the world, where the law prohibits all kinds of advertising and marketing and spirits are only sold through state-owned shops. This represents extra challenges for the spirits industry in Norway.

When peers tell me "You are lucky to work with your passion", I can really acknowledge that. My passion is the culture both within and around the spirit industry to create world-class quality products and bring them to the market. Working for so many years in an industry and in all parts of the industry, I have experienced ups and downs according to the world's good and bad times.

You get quite different questions from the board of directors when the surroundings are tough. But the cliché applies: change is the only constant. During the last ten years, I have worked for companies that have chosen to challenge instead of follow. And I have experienced quite a few roadblocks being in a challenger position. Throughout these job assignments, it has been my job to transform roadblocks into just bumps in the road. I have navigated through some storms, no doubt, and the experience gives you confidence. Experiencing tough times has taught me how to navigate change but still stay calm instead of looking for the panic button and losing focus. I have learned that there will always be challenges and opportunities when you put in the effort and search.

Q. Trust is one of the most important currencies of leadership that requires authenticity and consistency to maintain. What’s your take on this?

Time is my favorite currency for leadership—time to build trust. My time in the industry has provided me with expansive knowledge, which in turn gives me the confidence to discuss any matter throughout the value chain. Often times before, when I used to have my employees’ jobs, I understood the challenges and opportunities they faced. They trust me because I have invested the time to understand them. Time is crucial when I listen to my employees, both to understand their needs and to be able to coach them. In my opinion, investing time in every single employee is essential to making everyone understand our strategy from the same point of view and be inspired to contribute. When I am mindful and take time with people, we build mutual trust. In a working environment where we trust each other, it becomes natural to really own your tasks and responsibilities.

Q. As the CEO of the company, what are your major roles and responsibilities?

My role as the CEO of Feddie Ocean Distillery is to lead our company to success in the whisky marketplace, first in the Nordic region and Europe, and then in other parts of the world. My responsibility is to professionalize the company from being a young start-up to growing and becoming a solid organization. To add knowledge and resources at the right time during growth, to inspire individual learning opportunities, and at the same time capitalize on our competence as a team. My overall responsibility is to achieve our goals based on our strategy and the vision of the company’s founder. My job is to bring all this to life, which also includes being required to step up wherever I am needed throughout the day-to-day business.

Q. What can you tell us about Feddie Ocean Distillery? What are its focus areas? (And: Can you introduce us to your services? What are their key features?)

Feddie Ocean Distillery is a whisky distillery established in 2019 by 100% female investors. Today, 720 women own the company, and we aim to have 1000 female investors upon our whisky launch in November 2024. Our ambition is to make world-class whisky on a small island community on the west coast of Norway. We are the first ecological distillery in Norway, and we focus on sustainability in every operation of our business.

Our mission is also to empower women and inspire them to invest. The world of whisky is still dominated and mainly owned by men. We teach our investors about whisky and the whisky culture. In doing so, we arrange courses, seminars, and meetings. While waiting for our whisky to mature, we also make gin, aquavit, and liqueur—everything with a taste of Fedje, the island. We also contribute to the development of Fedje, as this island with 500 inhabitants faced the threat of an elderly population, a lack of work, and young people moving away from the island until we established the distillery on the island. We believe that developing the distillery and whisky tourism will revitalize the island and make growth sustainable again.

Q. What continuing learning opportunities do you have for your rank-and-file employees?

In many aspects, whisky represents a new industry in Norway. This implies that all our employees learn continuously in their jobs. Norwegian whisky in large volumes has never been produced before. We have hired highly skilled professionals from Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, and Norway. Being pioneers in our industry in Norway gives lots of opportunities for every single employee.

Q. How do you see Feddie Distillery changing in five years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?

Our goal is to establish Norwegian single malt whisky on the international market. In five years from today, we will be well on our way to achieving that. Our new distillery is about to be realized; we have increased our warehouse capacity and are able to deliver substantial volumes to the markets. By then, our first whisky will be eight years old. Our brand Feddie, representing 100% women investors, has been a part of defining what Norwegian whisky is and has created quite a few new female investors in the marketplace in general.

"We are the first ecological distillery in Norway, and we focus on sustainability in every operation of our business."