Teeling to restore own-label bulk whiskey supplies from Dundalk

John Teeling - “The principle objective is to be the second-lowest cost producer of whiskey in Ireland”.
John Teeling - “The principle objective is to be the second-lowest cost producer of whiskey in Ireland”.

Following the completion of negotiations with Diageo Ireland, John Teeling’s new venture, the Irish Whiskey Company, is to invest €35 million in two new distilling plants on the old Harp Brewery site in Dundalk to supply own-label and bulk Irish whiskey.

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21 August 2013

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The new distillery will be known as the Great Northern Distillery (echoing the brewery’s former title, The Great Northern Brewery).

Former own-label customers of Cooley Distillery were cut off when it was sold to Beam for €73 million in 2011 and the new IWC operation aims to restore those supplies.

“The strategy is to supply a segment of the whiskey market that’s going to grow and which is not currently being supplied,” he told Drinks Industry Ireland, “Retail own-label is going to grow. Irish whiskey sales are around 6 million cases at present but are expected to be at around 10 million in 2016 and 20 million by 2021/2.”

John Teeling has a 66% stake in the new venture while his partners Jim Finn and David Hines (who co-founded Cooley with John) own the rest of the company.

The €35 million investment includes the cost of construction and working capital over four years with the first mature whiskey due to come to market in the last quarter of 2017.

Broadly speaking, the Irish whiskey market can be divided up into ‘brand-led’ and ‘the rest’.
“We’re after the rest,” he said, “The principle objective is to be the second-lowest cost producer of whiskey in Ireland.”

Retail own-label is growing strongly in the US with bulk sales going to customers who want to develop their own brands but who don’t have a distiller.

The IWC will also provide grain whiskey for Ireland’s growing population of pot stills.
The Teeling Whiskey Company, based in Dublin and run by John’s two sons Stephen and Jack, will also be a customer to the Dundalk operation, therefore, he added.

Diageo will finish brewing onsite next week and transfer operations to Dublin but will take five months to fully exit the site.

“We’ll take possession of the site in February,” said John, “In the meantime, since July 2012 we’ve been looking at how we’ll adapt the site. Diageo has been very helpful in this and so we’ve had an office onsite for a while.”

It’s hoped to commission the new distillery by July next year and some 20 jobs are to be created initially at the fully-automated site

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John Teeling - “The principle objective is to be the second-lowest cost producer of whiskey in Ireland”.

John Teeling – “The principle objective is to be the second-lowest cost producer of whiskey in Ireland”.

 

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