We've covered a lot of unique brand origin stories here at ECRM, but this is the first time we're come across a brand that was conceived during a conversation around a dining room table at a safe house in a war zone.

Sam Lerman comes from a military background. After serving in the Air Force in Afghanistan, he continued to work in the defense industry working military acquisitions for some U.S. programs. 

When Russia invaded Ukraine, he wanted to help the Ukranian people and worked with a small team as a volunteer advisor in 2022 to help bring in much-needed supplies. Over time he fell in love with the country, its culture, its people. 

Born in a Ukrainian safe house

He lived in a safe house, and in the evenings, they would sit together at the large dining room table and drink some wine and vodka that some of the local team members would bring in. He fell in those with those, too, but couldn't find them in the U.S. So, he and one of the Ukrainian team members decided to launch an importing business to make that happen. Spyrt Worldwide was born.

Shabo wine

Among the wines they import is the Shabo brand, which was founded in 1822 by Swiss settlers in te Ukraine. It's served all over the world, and the premium versions can be found in Michelin-starred restaurants.

Hetman vodka

Hetman is one of the vodka brands they are importing. and is from the historic vodka-producing area of Lviv, where the art of distilling has thrived since 1782.

Proceeds from sales of all the products go to Invictus Global Response, a nonprofit that sends U.S. explosive ordinance veterans to the Ukraine to remove land mines from liberated towns, as well as train Ukrainian troops on mine removal (Ukraine us the most heavily mined country in the world, according to Sam).

In this video interview with Joseph Tarnowski at ECRM's On & Off Premise Adult Beverage Session, Sam shares details about the origin and walks us through the brands he was showcasing at the session. 

Already he's landed distributors for two states and is in discussions with several major retail establishments about getting on the shelves in their stores!