Whiskey ‘bouncing back with NI to the fore’
The head of the Irish Whiskey Association has hailed the performance of the industry during a pandemic hit year and predicts a big bounce back in the next 12 months, with Northern Ireland products helping lead that charge.
Despite Covid lockdowns there were still 11.4 million cases of Irish whiskey sold in 2020, compared with 11.9 million the year before.
William Lavelle, below, told LCN: “When we got the figures sales were down about 4% but that was primarily down to a collapse in global travel travel.
“It you had told us it would be down just 4% this time last year we would have laughed. We have exceeded all our expectations.”
The dinks industry representative explained that Irish whisky had held up extremely well in all major markets, including the US and the UK, with sales in emerging territories including India, Australia and and Nigeria “skyrocketing”.
“It shows the robust and rude health of the Irish whiskey market and while we thought it might take three to four years to bounce back the reality is we will have regained all of our losses in this current year,” said Mr Lavelle.
And the industry chief not only predicted big things for Northern Ireland distilleries, but vowed that Drinks Ireland would help the on trade push forward and promote a home-gown product that could deliver great margins and ongoing success.
‘Historic brands’
“The NI scene is gong to be one of the really hot sectors for Irish whiskey over the coming years. They are bringing back historic brands with great tradition end respect.
“With the on trade you will see our our industry work very differently going forward.
“Our companies will be sponsoring Irish whiskey training for bar staff at a category level so everyone will get on the same course – increasing their understanding and awareness.
“We will also be developing tool kits for the on trade – for example Irish whiskey cocktail kits – and we see there being a rich relationship going forward.”
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