Hall of Fame

Tessa Gerlach is the Co-Founder of Elephant Gin, alongside her husband Robin Gerlach. Tessa’s area of focus stretches from product development to all marketing, communication, PR, design and branding aspects of Elephant Gin. She is also responsible for the collaborative conservation efforts with the foundations in Kenya and South Africa.

She holds a Master’s in Management and Finance from University College London as well as a BA in Film Production and Marketing Communications from Emerson College, Boston.

Before founding Elephant Gin Tessa spent six years working in the Film industry (including with Universal Pictures and Working Title films in Los Angeles and London) covering managerial and budgeting tasks as well as supporting the marketing efforts in successfully distributing feature films.

In 2013, Elephant Gin Founders, Tessa and Robin Gerlach, were inspired to create their range of premium handcrafted gins following their adventurous trips across Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Unsure of what the future held for African wildlife, Tessa and Robin decided to take action and make an impact to help protect the African elephant – even from afar. Back in Europe, they came up with the idea for an African-inspired gin whilst reminiscing about the ‘sundowner’ G&Ts they enjoyed during their trips.

The award-winning Elephant London Dry Gin (45%) was the first gin in the portfolio, made with an innovative blend of 14 botanicals, it combines rare African ingredients with fresh spring water and hand-cut apples from orchards surrounding their distillery; this composition gives the gin a complex and strikingly mild bouquet with floral, fruity and spicy aromas. The range was complemented by the aromatic Elephant Sloe Gin (35%), the full-bodied Elephant Strength Gin (57%) and the fresh Elephant Orange Cocoa Gin (40%).

Elephant Gin give back the inspiration behind the brand, African elephants. 15% of all bottle profits are donated to the endangered African elephant. So far, over €1,000,000 has been raised through sales and fundraising events. As of September 2022, donations will go directly to the Elephant Gin Foundation, a London-based grant-making foundation that invests in African elephant conservation and educational projects.