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Scottish Government pledges support for SWA’s ‘Made to be Measured’ campaign

11 September 2023 By Arabella Mileham

The Scottish Government has pledged to help support the Scotch Whisky Association’s (SWA) ‘Made to be Measured’ campaign in the run up to Christmas, as part of Holyrood’s wider efforts to reduce alcohol misuse in Scotland.

The campaign was first launched by the SWA in March to raise awareness of the alcoholic content of drinks and also the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines, however an evaluation of a recent government campaign to highlight limit of 14 units of alcohol showed that nearly three quarters of the Scottish public were still unaware of the guidelines. The campaign itself did help raise awareness, with around 83% of the public unaware of the guidelines before the ‘Count 14’ campaign was launched.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf met the Scottish Whisky Association’s SWA’s governing Council to discuss how the industry and government can work in partnership, not only in the promoting responsible consumption, but also in promoting Scotch Whisky in international markets and encouraging tourism and reaching Net-Zero.

Yousaf welcomed the whisky industry’s “willingness to raise awareness of alcohol misuse and the health risks associated with high consumption of alcohol” through its campaign, calling it “just one of the key areas of partnership that the Scottish Government and whisky industry can work together on”. He added that he forward to furthering the productive partnership on other shared priorities.

SWA Council Chair Dan Mobley said the SWA Council was delighted to meet the First Minister and discuss issues of mutual importance to Scotland and Scotch whisky.

“The industry values its relationship with the Scottish Government as a key partner in our ambition for the sustainable growth of manufacturing, exports and tourism, with all the high value jobs and community benefit that comes from that,” he said and looked forward to working with the First Minister on these shared goals.

SWA Chief Executive Mark Kent noted that since coming into office in xxx, Yousaf had “engaged with the industry, listened to concerns over DRS and the alcohol marketing consultation, and… recognised the benefits of working in partnership on shared priorities.”

“Tackling alcohol misuse and promoting responsible consumption is one example of where we can work together,” he said. “The pledge to help support the SWA’s Made to be Measured campaign is the Scottish Government’s reset with business in action, and we look forward to developing this partnership in other key areas including exports, tourism and sustainability.”

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