Wednesday 28 March 2012

An undiluted success?

Good news from the Scotch whisky industry where exports broke new records in 2011, increasing in value by 23% to £4.23 billion. This was praised by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead, who said:
“Scotland is rightly hailed as a land of food and drink, which is underpinned by the record exports achieved in 2011.

“This demonstrates that people around the world are appreciating the high quality and delicious products that Scotland's larder has to offer.

“With exports increasing by more than a fifth, the whisky industry has seen hugely impressive year-on-year growth, while Scotland's iconic seafood remains at the heart of our food exports offering.”
It must be said that is more than a touch hypocritical coming from an administration that refuses to regard the whisky industry as a legitimate consultee when considering domestic policy, and is intent on introducing a minimum pricing policy that domestically will administer a severe blow to it.

Maybe some of these self-important administrators should remember who ultimately pays their salaries.

4 comments:

  1. I agree with you on minimum pricing.

    Scotch has been an export led product since the first world war. We more or less paid WW2 war loans to the Americans in Scotch. It really isn't to any real degree a domestic product. Vodka is far more popular in Scotland and England. Some of the worlds most popular Scotch brands are not even retailed in the UK.

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  2. Scotland's whisky industry under serious threat from minimum pricing

    It may be outsold by vodka, but there's still a very large domestic market for whisky.

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  3. Significant in terms of the overall UK drinks market but not large. Large is the output that goes to Asia and America. Scotch makers are less concerned about being forced to charge 14 quid a bottle in the UK than the value of the pound rising.

    As their business is export led, and the pound is knackered, the industry ought to be doing well.

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  4. Maybe it could become a selling point, like the US Bourbon distilleries in dry counties in Kentucky and Tennessee.

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