Our Team
Omid McDonald
Founder/CEO
Omid McDonald. Founder/CEO. Omid is an eclectic serial entrepreneur whose past startups range from medical devices to software for DJs. He became enamored with distilling while visiting a micro-distillery in Charleston. It wasn’t long until Omid started making moonshine in his basement with a copper pot still he hand built.
Neal McCarten
Director of Operations
Neal spent his childhood summers on his uncle’s dairy farm where he learned a deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication it takes to be a farmer. In his spare time, Neal keeps his community association running smoothly and enjoys playing with his one-year old daughter.
Ben Oppenheimer
CFO
A Queens University graduate and Ottawa native, Ben completed his CPA requirements at large accounting firms PwC and MNP, before joining the team in early 2019. Ben brings not only his fastidious bookkeeping and lightening fast typing skills to the team, but also a passion for growing business and building great financial tools.
David McDonald
Quality Control
David is both Omid’s dad and an emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Ottawa where he specialized in quality control. He’ll be applying this experience to make sure quality is job one at Dairy Distillery. David will also be tending the Dairy Distillery gardens with his grandchildren.
Anthony Seed
Distribution
After a long stint as the Eastern Ontario sales rep for Pernod Ricard, Anthony knows a thing or two about spirits. Anthony is also a health and fitness expert and will be keeping the Dairy Distillery team in shape. Aside from selling spirits and pumping iron, Anthony keeps busy with his two children.
David Geros
CTO
After completing his Masters in Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Dave worked at Carlsberg in Northampton in the UK. He returned home to take a position at Iogen where he worked developing cellulosic ethanol production for the 15-years. When not distilling, Dave enjoys playing soccer with his two children.
Jonny Crozier
Distiller
It all started with a fermented bucket of pineapple juice in a downtown condo. Jonny's passion for cocktails and spirits lead down a rabbit hole driven to figure out how to create interesting flavours from common ingredients using classic techniques. The move from bartender to distiller was the next step in his creative exploration. Drop in for a tour - he loves to talk about music, interesting spirits and why a Margarita makes the perfect cocktail.
Alexandra Amodeo
Director of Sanitizer and Ethanol Sales
A grad of Carleton U where she met her husband of 25 years, Claire brings a fresh perspective as a project management professional with 20+ years in sales, marketing and events for public, non-profit and private sectors. Prior to joining Dairy Distillery she spent 18 years at CEPSM where she gained a keen appreciation for running a small business. Her passion for life ignited at the age of 3 discovering dance and cats.
Friends
University of Ottawa
We’ve partnered with Dr. Alexandre Poulain, Professor of Biology at the University of Ottawa, one of Canada’s premiere research institutions. Dr. Poulain and his undergraduate student Jessica Gaudet have been uncovering the secrets of fermenting milk permeate. They have also been working to decode the chemical composition of a great spirit.
Tree Canada
Tree Canada restores forests helps wildlife and also helps fight climate change. Their reforestation and carbon offsetting efforts help make cleaner soil, cleaner waterways and shorelines and help sequester millions of tons of carbon pollution. In an effort to make Vodkow carbon neutral, we selected Tree Canada's "Grow Clean Air" program that plans trees guaranteed to sequester carbon for 30 years.
Dairy Farmers of Ontario
The Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) awarded us a Business Product and Development Program (BPDP) grant to assist with our marketing and bottle design. The DFO is the marketing group for Ontario’s Dairy farmers. The BPDP helps innovative new milk products come to market.
