Co-founder of Greenbar Distillery, Litty Mathew’s journey began in a food-loving family, tending gardens and cooking from an early age. She later trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, sharpening the culinary instincts that would define Greenbar’s organic spirits portfolio.
Mathew’s leadership has shaped Greenbar’s identity from the start. During the pandemic, she spearheaded a $2 million investment in canning technology, launching a line of highball and alcohol-free ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages. The move sparked a dramatic surge in sales and expanded the distillery’s national footprint to hundreds of retail locations across the country.
Just as impressively, Mathew has championed a bold sustainability mission. Under her guidance, Greenbar has planted over 1.2 million trees and developed a carbon-negative beverage model—offsetting 46.6 kg of CO₂ per can.
Mathew’s work is a blend of artistry, entrepreneurship and impact—and we got the chance to sit down and chat with her about what it’s like to run a successful distillery as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Beverage Wholesaler (BW): What brought about the desire to work in the beverage alcohol industry?
Litty Mathew (LM): For me, it was a weird way to get into business. It’s not like there was some sort of tradition involved, such as a family business. I met Melkon Khosrovian, my husband and co-founder of Greenbar, and then we got married and decided to ditch our formal education, migrating toward a small business that allowed us to work together. We started back in 2004, and here we are 20 years later.
BW: How has your background helped prepare you to start and run a distillery?
LM: Both my husband and I are immigrants, with neither of us being born in the U.S. After seeing what our parents had to do and how they just picked themselves up through every problem they faced, it made us have that same tenacity. Our parents gave us so many opportunities, and we aren’t the type to squander that away.
My husband’s parents were also very entrepreneurial. They ran a small business together and were great role models, so we had a great example to look up to.
BW: Did you experience any difficulties in getting Greenbar Distillery up and running?
LM: There are so many hiccups that come with starting a business. Being a small business, everything can grind to a halt if someone takes a leave of absence or if someone doesn’t show up for their shift.
In my personal experience, it would have been great to take time off to make my life easier, especially being a woman. You have all these other responsibilities, such as taking care of your aging parents. But in order to maintain quality production, we have such a small staff, so we all need to show up. A lot of orders depend on us being there.
BW: Tell me more about your $2 million investment in canning technology during the pandemic. Has the massive investment paid off yet?
LM: Small businesses, such as ourselves, must be very nimble. If something isn’t working, you must try something else, and this investment helped us survive during the pandemic. Since so much of our business was on-premise, and restaurants had closed during this time, we had to evaluate everything we could possibly do to survive. Our RTDs became very popular and helped us survive.
BW: I see that sustainability is very important to you and your business. Can you talk about the different ways in which you’re helping Greenbar Distillery to offset its carbon footprint?
LM: This is something we’ve been investing in ever since we decided to become an organic company. In 2008, we made a giant pivot and focused more strongly on offering something valuable to our customers.
Sustainability is in the details of every decision we make. For example, the glass we use to bottle our spirits is much lighter than other traditional glass used in the industry. We are also made from 100% post-consumer waste, and our label is also part of our recycling program. Choosing to use organic ingredients also allows us to leave farms and waterways pretty clean.
BW: What’s next for Greenbar Distillery?
LM: In California, we’re working on a new product called Staria, which is a cocktailing liqueur, so customers can make their own cocktails at home. With just two ingredients ─ Staria and any spirit you have sitting around ─ consumers can create one-of-a-kind cocktails. Right now, it’s only available for sale direct-to-consumer in California, but we’ll see how it does and hopefully it will eventually be available nationwide.
