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
Co-Founder/CMO
Neal spent his childhood summers on his family's dairy farm where he learned a deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication it takes to be a farmer. He's incredibly excited to work on Vodkow, and to showcase the innovation and sustainable future that the agricultural community is working towards everyday.
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
Director of Sales
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 helps keep the Dairy Distillery team in shape (when he's not sneaking us candy). Aside from selling spirits and pumping iron, Anthony keeps busy with his two children and a steady stream of dad jokes.
David Geros
CSO
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
Toronto Brand Manager
Jonny's passion for cocktails and spirits was so evident when he visited our newly opened distillery that we offered him a job! Jonny made the big leap from bartending and marketing to distiller, where he helped us master the process of making our spirits. In 2022, he made the move back to Toronto to help introduce Vodkow to the centre of the universe. He loves to talk about music, interesting spirits and why a Margarita makes the perfect cocktail, so make sure you say hi when you run into him about town.
Kate Goffin
Plant Manager
Kate joined Dairy Distillery on the bottling line and has worked her way up to leading the distilling and production teams. Her love of spirits brought her to here, and her hard work and dedication have been an invaluable addition to our team.
Her new position opens up the opportunity for other team members to finally claim employee of the month.
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.
