World whisky sector ‘righted’ as Irish grows

As Irish whiskey experiences momentous growth, its position against the leading Scotch category is being “righted”, the CEO of Jameson producer Irish Distillers has argued.

Anna Malmhake, CEO of Irish Distillers, believes the growth of Irish whiskey means “we are now road to righting the balance in the worldwide whisky category”

Speaking to The Spirits Business, Anna Malmhake expressed her confidence in the future growth prospects of Irish whiskey.

“Irish whiskey used to be 50 times bigger than Scotch in the early 1800s and we are only now on the road to righting the balance in the worldwide whisky category,” she said.

“The wonderful thing of course is that more people around the world are coming into whisky, so Irish whiskey growing will be good for Scotch, and Scotch growing will be good for Irish, because it’s all about people being interested in whisky full stop.”

Her claims come three months after trade body the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA) predicted that Irish whiskey can grow its global market share by 300% over the next 15 years.

The IWA revealed a strategy to double Irish whiskey exports by 2020, from 6.5 million 9-litre cases to 12m cases, and double again to 24m cases by 2030.

While Scotch whisky’s leading players have suffered in the past two years, and global exports of the spirit dropped 7% in value in 2014, Jameson, which accounts for almost 70% of the entire Irish whiskey category, grew 6% to 4.9m cases last year (Brand Champions).

“When I talk to consumers who have an interest in whisky, it’s more the brand that matters to them. Of course they are very knowledgeable – they know their Irish whisky from their Scotch and Bourbon – but they are more open to whisky regardless of origin,” continued Malmhake.

In June this year, Irish Distillers revealed plans to invest €17m in expanding its bottling operation, growing capacity by 50% over the next two years. The firm will increase the annual capacity of its Fox and Geese plant in Clondalkin, Co. Dublin, from 5m nine-litre cases to 7.5m nine-litre cases.

“From our perspective, how to meet increasing demand is an amazing challenge to have – what you’d call a ‘luxury problem’,” said Malmhake.

“Maturing stock really isn’t the issue; we were able to forecast the demand and expand at the right time to be able to meet it. The challenge is really more about growing the rest of the company at the right speed and in the right places.”

To view our full interview with Anna Malmhake, see the August 2015 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.