Irish Bottling Company: creating solutions for craft spirits brands

Any business knows the challenges of managing cash flow. So, particularly when it comes to third-party bottling, how can the industry improve how it operates to support the growth of up-and-coming brands?

When Swiss-based Origen X Group launched the Irish Bottling Company at the tail end of 2024, the team was laser-focused on their vision. With the capacity to produce up to five million bottles per year, the bottling, blending and processing business was founded not only to produce spirits owned by Origen X – with brands including Kinahan’s Irish Whiskey and Bagots Irish Whiskey – but to support third-party premium Irish spirits.

Their goal is to aid the bottleneck seen in the Irish bottling market – a particularly problematic issue for newer, up-and-coming spirits brands.

The cause of the bottleneck is multifaceted. High inflation in most established markets worldwide, considerable currency value fluctuations in key developing markets, and high levels of existing inventory in core Western markets are all contributing factors, Origen X believes. These issues themselves lead to further challenges – cash flow being high on the list of concerns.

As premiumisation continues, importers are looking for ways to maximise their cash flow allocation. As it stands, there are two ways to do this; they prioritise spending on existing established, fast-moving products, and they improve credit terms with slower-moving, growing brands. Unfortunately, currently large-scale importers and distributors are leaning towards longer credit terms with their growing supplier brands. For small-to-medium brands, the inability to offer longer credit terms to big importers puts them at risk of being lower down the priority list, or being removed from the supply chain altogether, as many big importers and distributors are working to reduce their liquidity exposure, and release capital that would otherwise be frozen in stock.

“This is exactly where we see some smaller brands continue to grow while others blame tough market conditions on substantial slow down,” says Harry Dunne, CEO of the Irish Bottling Company. “In fact, for smaller brands the problem is not the market but brands’ inability to adjust due to their own liquidity situation.”

What’s the solution?

This is where the Irish Bottling Company can create genuine positive changes for brands in Ireland. As David Balfour, COO of Gortinore Irish Whiskey Limited, notes: “Moving our Natterjack Irish Whiskey production to the IBC not only streamlines our bottling process but also increases value to our customers by using a state-of-the-art facility. By adding this impressive production step, we add value to our products and are proud to be working with the IBC for many years to come.”

The Irish Bottling Company is the first operation of this kind in Ireland to offer financial flexibility to customers, and supply chain support. One way the company is achieving this is through extended credit terms to approved customers. It provides support to help brands manage cash flows, while simultaneously scaling operations.

“Encouraging long-term partnerships rather than short-term risk aversion strategies will create new pockets of success stories that will work as a catalyst for the next wave of successful brands to grow sales of dry material suppliers and industry service providers,” explains Dunne.

“By suffocating this opportunity today, dry material suppliers and industry service providers are rendering the future growth of their own customer base void.”

For any enquiries, please visit – www.irishbottlingcompany.com.

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