Pernod Ricard invests in Irish whiskey distillery

Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard is investing €10.5 million into its Irish Whiskey distillery in Cork enabling it to boost production by around a third.

The still being delivered to Midleton Distillery last night [photo credit: Padraic O’Reilly, Shannon Images]
The investment in the Midleton Distillery will see three new copper pot stills installed at the plant by the middle of July to support the production of its brands, which includes Jameson’s.

The production increase is part of a wider plan supporting a target from the Irish Whiskey Association’s to expand the global growth of Irish whiskey by around 300% by 2030. The aim is to increase exports to 12 million cases by 2020 and 24 million cases by 2030.

It follows previous investment in the site which has benefitted from €120 million investment since 2012, alongside an €20 million investment in the Fox and Geese bottling facility in Dublin, €100 million at its Dungourney maturation site and €11 million to redevelop the Old Jameson Distillery in Smithfield, Dublin.

Chairman and CEO of Irish Distillers Jean-Christophe Coutures, said the Irish whiskey category was enjoying phenomenal global growth, led by the company’s Jameson brand, whose sales topped 5.7 million cases in 2016.

“Irish Distillers has been driving the growth of the category since 1988, a commitment further underpinned by investments of over €230 million since 2012,” he said. “With this additional investment of over €10 million at Midleton, the home of Irish whiskey, we will ensure that we are positioned to meet growing global demand and support the growth of Irish whiskey in the international spirits category.”

“We are seeing growth accelerating across Jameson and the wider Single Pot Still Irish whiskey range and we will continue to direct our focus for growth here. With our increased production capacity, we are confident that the category will hit the ambitious targets set by the Irish Whiskey Association.”

Paul Wickham, General Manager of Midleton Distillery said the investment would increase the company’s support for the wider Cork economy – the company’s barley is sourced from farms located within 100 miles of Midleton Distillery. “At present, we spend €60 million annually on cereals, energy, capital projects and payroll in the local economy and this will increase with the installation of these new stills,” he said.