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Irish Times
30-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Glass half empty for whiskey industry
Irish whiskey started the year with more distilleries than anyone could put a number to, but following the impact of tariffs it might be the lost distilleries that are uncountable. The industry collectively raised a glass to two more distilleries which received bad news over the weekend. Powerscourt Distillery announced that it has entered receivership, with Interpath Advisory being appointed at the end of last week – the same firm as was appointed to Waterford Distillery in November 2024. The Wicklow-based company behind the Fercullen whiskey label, is one of many brands whose stills went cold this year, initially with plans to restart production in June. But that was not to be. READ MORE [ Is Irish whiskey on the rocks? Opens in new window ] As of September 2024, the company stood in breach of its agreement with lenders PNC Bank – with which it agreed a €25 million debt deal in June 2023 – and its accounts noted it was dependent on the lender's support and a round of fundraising of €4.6 million by the end of March 2025. Amid turbulent market conditions caused by US import tariffs, the brand was unable to secure the necessary funding. However, the fact that the process has already begun is understood to be positive for the business and the prospect of new investors. The business was struggling with working capital constraints but is thought to be viable long-term. In the Liberties, it emerged that Diageo-owned distillery Roe & Co put an 'extended pause on distillation'. In a statement to The Irish Times, a Diageo spokeswoman said the decision was made 'in order to optimise resources and support the sustainable future growth of our business'. IATA Director General Willie Walsh on airline profits, air fares and why the Dublin Airport passenger cap makes Ireland a laughing stock Listen | 35:56 It is understood that five employees due to be affected by Diageo's decision are in consultation with the company to be redeployed across the company where possible. Where does that leave the Irish whiskey industry? There has been a lot of talk of industry resilience and riding out turbulent market conditions, but fundamentally, it seems that the glass-half-full view around the country is not well received by some of its lenders.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Powerscourt Distillery appoints receivers
Irish whiskey maker Powerscourt Distillery has called in the receivers. In a brief statement posted on the Powerscourt Distillery website, the company said it had appointed Interpath Advisory on Thursday (26 June). 'The distillery remains open for business to the public and all online retail sales will be honoured and dispatched in the normal course,' the statement read. The business directed 'enquiries regarding the company or regarding outstanding claims' to Interpath. Just Drinks has approached Interpath MD Mark Degnan for comment. Powerscourt Distillery, based in Enniskerry, a town south of Dublin, was set up in 2016. It sells single malt and blended Irish whiskey under the Fercullen brand. According to The Sunday Times, the decision to appoint Interpath was made by UK lender PNC Bank, which had been working with the distiller on a restructuring process. The publication said Interpath would seek new investment in the business, which breached loan covenants earlier this year, it said. In an interview with Just Drinks two years ago this week, Powerscourt Distillery said it was looking to double its production capacity as the company sets its sights on expansion in the US. The distiller, which was producing 350,000 litres of pure alcohol a year, said at the time it had obtained a €25m (then $27m) asset-based loan from secured against its stock. In November last year, Interpath was also appointed to handle the receivership of Irish whiskey business Waterford Distillery. Earlier this month, UK-based alternative milks brand Mighty Drinks appointed Interpath administrators for the business after facing recent 'headwinds'. Mighty Drinks produces a range of pea protein and oat milk products which are sold across the country in major retailers such as Sainsbury's, Asda and Tesco. "Powerscourt Distillery appoints receivers" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Powerscourt Distillery appoints receivers
Irish whiskey maker Powerscourt Distillery has called in the receivers. In a brief statement posted on the Powerscourt Distillery website, the company said it had appointed Interpath Advisory on Thursday (26 June). 'The distillery remains open for business to the public and all online retail sales will be honoured and dispatched in the normal course,' the statement read. The business directed 'enquiries regarding the company or regarding outstanding claims' to Interpath. Just Drinks has approached Interpath MD Mark Degnan for comment. Powerscourt Distillery, based in Enniskerry, a town south of Dublin, was set up in 2016. It sells single malt and blended Irish whiskey under the Fercullen brand. According to The Sunday Times, the decision to appoint Interpath was made by UK lender PNC Bank, which had been working with the distiller on a restructuring process. The publication said Interpath would seek new investment in the business, which breached loan covenants earlier this year, it said. In an interview with Just Drinks two years ago this week, Powerscourt Distillery said it was looking to double its production capacity as the company sets its sights on expansion in the US. The distiller, which was producing 350,000 litres of pure alcohol a year, said at the time it had obtained a €25m (then $27m) asset-based loan from secured against its stock. In November last year, Interpath was also appointed to handle the receivership of Irish whiskey business Waterford Distillery. Earlier this month, UK-based alternative milks brand Mighty Drinks appointed Interpath administrators for the business after facing recent 'headwinds'. Mighty Drinks produces a range of pea protein and oat milk products which are sold across the country in major retailers such as Sainsbury's, Asda and Tesco. "Powerscourt Distillery appoints receivers" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Personal loans hit record as interest rates fall
The volume and value of personal loan drawdowns hit another record in 2024 as consumers borrowed to fund car purchases, home improvements and holidays against a backdrop of falling interest rates. On Friday, Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), the main lobbying body for the banking sector in the Republic, said non-mortgage, personal loan activity surged to the highest levels since 2020, when its data series began. Ian Curran has the details. 'I am baffled by all the companies doing an about-face on their social initiatives right now. Did you not actually mean it in the first place? Either don't do it, or do it and stay doing it, but don't do this 'DEI is cancelled now. It's very odd to me.' Stripe co-founder John Collison speaks to Ciara O'Brien in our Interview of the Week slot. The past six months have seen the receivership of Waterford Distillery, Killarney Brewing and Distilling Company enter examinership, and Blackwater Distillery needing a rescue plan approved to stay afloat. Hugh Dooley takes the temperature of the Irish whiskey sector as it grapples with US President Donald Trump's tariffs . READ MORE The EU as a bloc is better placed than individual governments to foster a step change in pharmaceutical research, writes John FitzGerald in his weekly column. No one government has the resources to undertake this task on its own, across a spectrum of potential new treatments. While the cost would be substantial, it would be small relative to what's planned for new defence spending. Fionn Lahart and Christoph Hennersperger, co-founders of Luma Vision , have been chosen as The Irish Times Business People of the Month for April , an award run in association with Bank of Ireland . 'I've entrepreneurial spirit in my veins' – Apprentice star Jordan Dargan Listen | 44:45 In April, the Irish medical technology company announced that it had secured US regulatory clearance for its cardiac imaging device for use in the treatment of patients suffering from arrhythmias. We have got used to trying to assess the damage that may come from Donald Trump's tariffs and what these might mean for growth and tax revenue, writes Cliff Taylor in Smart Money . But as this plays out, uncertainty itself is taking a toll, even if this is not yet showing up in national economic figures bar some wobbles in indices which measure the confidence of consumers and businesses. The Irish economy is experiencing a silent slowdown, driven mainly by a fall-off in capital investment by businesses. The eyeroll says it all. You're in another meeting with that manager who loves meetings about meetings. She's waffling on again and your colleagues are failing to contain their disdain; it's all nail-biting, clock-watching, side-eye glancing and leg jiggling. As usual this meeting is nothing more than a time suck , writes Margaret E Ward. If you'd like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Irish whiskey is undergoing a market correction, a temporary blip, a ‘little pause'
In 2010, there were just four working distilleries in Ireland. As of late 2024, that number had stretched to more than 50. Now, as many as 90 per cent of those whiskey distilleries have paused or reduced production. The past six months have seen the receivership of Waterford Distillery, Killarney Brewing and Distilling Company enter examinership, and Blackwater Distillery needing a rescue plan approved to stay afloat. Even among the giants, Pernod Ricard's Irish Distillers have paused production at the famous Midleton Distillery for several months; Great Northern Distillery is curtailing production by 70 per cent, and a number of stills at Tullamore Dew have gone quiet. It's not a problem that began on 'Liberation Day': this perfect storm of market conditions has been created over many years. READ MORE Depending on who you ask, Irish whiskey is either undergoing a market correction or a temporary blip, but everyone agrees that it is the small producers that are going to feel the most pain. 'Based on what we have heard from interaction with our membership, about 90 per cent of distilleries have decided to either pause or cut back on production,' said Eoin Ó Cáthain, director of the Irish Whiskey Association, the Ibec group that represents the sector in the Republic. While it is common for distilleries to temporarily pause production for operational reasons, the flood of announcements that stills are being shut down is in response to the 'challenging' circumstances facing the market, he said. 'The lack of certainty in our biggest export market is quite challenging. The fact that we face a 10 per cent tariff at the moment is like the Sword of Damocles hanging over us,' he says. But the issues in the market are not solely about tariffs. Some industry experts say the problems began to take hold two years ago, and only now are the symptoms becoming visible. You can't just move whiskey around the world – it is incredibly regulated, mostly because of the taxes that are applied Powerscourt Distillery, the Co Wicklow-based company behind the Fercullen whiskey brand, is one of many brands whose stills went cold this year, initially 'for reasons of practicality'. The distillery paused its annual 300,000-litre production in January to carry out a planned renovation but opted not to restart production following the completion of the works, in response to market conditions. With more than one million litres of alcohol maturing – the equivalent of 3.5 million bottles of whiskey – and the expectation of resuming production in June, Powerscourt is willing to ride out this period. 'There was a surge in production by a lot of companies post-Covid,' said its head of brand John Cashman, explaining that distilleries reacted to an initial 'surge of interest in alcohol again'. Distillers thought 'everyone was going to go crazy and go out drinking, but that hasn't materialised', he said. In the aftermath of the pandemic, consumer behaviour changed, and the absence of the big bump in consumption that producers had expected resulted in an 'oversupply and overstocking' of product in all markets. 'There isn't room for everyone – that's for certain – but I don't think that is the root cause of the oversupply,' Mr Cashman said. 'All the major multinational [brands'] sales are down, and people are trying to attribute it to Trump or attribute it to individual factors, but it's not. It's like a perfect storm.' Mr Cashman said the whiskey market is 'cyclical' and the future is 'still bright'. 'This is just a little pause in demand, like there is every 10 or 15 years in every industry,' he said. He forecast a period of consolidation in the Irish whiskey market, 'and those who will survive are the ones with a good route to market, a good product, a good story and a good brand'. Whiskey industry veteran and the founder of Great Northern Distillery, John Teeling believes the whiskey market is undergoing a correction. One of Ireland's largest distilleries, Great Northern has cut back production by 70 per cent, with private label customers slashing their orders too, but Mr Teeling said he is 'less concerned than most'. 'Before you start to order coffins for the industry,' he said, 'it goes from undersupply to oversupply constantly. Industries like this always have corrections, and the correction started at the end of 2023, with higher interest rates in the US and consumers beginning to pull back.' Retailers, he explained, stocked up expecting the level of consumption that was present immediately after Covid to continue. When it didn't, orders back along the chain to producers began to dry up in 2024. These market conditions were exacerbated by the uncertainty around US tariffs and, after an anticipatory surge in stock, demand has dried up. 'People are overstocked because they were distilling in 2023 and 2024 in expectation of the market being strong in three and four years' time, and now they are finding themselves overstocked, and their stock is costing them more money,' said Mr Teeling Dingle Distillery made the decision to temporarily cut production by 60 per cent in March following eight years of 'full-scale' production. Its managing director, Elliot Hughes, put part of the blame on 'the current uncertainty'. Based on what we have heard from interaction with our membership, about 90 per cent of distilleries have decided to either pause or cut back on production 'We've stockpiled a good bit of product over the past few years, so we are comfortable that we can reduce production for a period of time and then get back to full strength after that,' he said. The decision came as a way of 'saving cash for the rainy day fund' he added, with the expectation that the company will 'have to take hits on margins due to tariffs in the US'. Mr Hughes rejected the idea that the sharp growth in producers had led to the oversaturation of the market, stressing the importance of retaining smaller-scale distilleries in the market. 'It's really important that we don't conflate volume with the numbers of distilleries. A lot of people are jumping to the notion that we have too many distilleries, or too many brands, I don't think we do,' he said. But he conceded that the Irish industry has grown too quickly in recent years. 'There is definitely an oversupply of product. The backstop for a lot of distilleries was that they would be able to sell whatever product they produced, and that's what seems to have disappeared.' 'What has made people more concerned, is that the security that people thought they had, is not as secure as it was, because of the oversupply.' Mr Hughes said his distillery is going to wait and see how the 'next four, five, or six months play out' before making a decision about going back to full production. For many in the industry, the news of Waterford Distillery's receivership in November 2024 came as a shock. Backed up by 20 employees, Mark Reynier – the industry veteran who built back scotch brand Bruichladdich – began to produce Waterford Whisky in the old Guinness brewery in Waterford city. But unlike with his revival of Bruichladdich, when Mr Reynier said he got a 'perfect run at it', 'everything but the kitchen sink has got in the way' of Waterford Distillery, he told the Waterford News & Star at the time. Interest rates were one part of the downfall of the distillery, Mr Reynier said, pointing to a 21-fold increase in interest rates during market conditions which he labelled the 'international destocking era'. 'The very policy of laying down that stock became a millstone,' Mr Renier said in the immediate aftermath of the receivership, noting that 'the cost of the interest that we were paying outweighed the revenue' they were able to generate as they built up a 'war chest' of whiskey. Fellow Waterford-based Blackwater Distillery was the next to encounter financial difficulties, seeking protection from its creditors through the small company's administrative rescue process (Scarp). Nearly 95 per cent of the company's unsecured debt was written off, more than €500,000, in an effort to stabilise the whiskey and gin distillery. The business's co-founder, Peter Mulryan, explained that the business became 'weighed down by the burden of debt' as it tried to trade its way out of trouble, eventually that was no longer possible. 'Every month, more and more was going out the door to service debt, and it got to a point where it became unsustainable,' he said. Both founders pointed to the same issue, the long production delay built into the distillation and maturation of Irish whiskey. While Blackwater has been handed a new lease of life by the Scarp process, Waterford Whisky is still in the balance. 'Whiskey is a fabulous industry, but we have to recognise that it is a long game,' said Pat Rigney, founder of the Shed Distillery, whose still continues to operate. The build-up period in the production of Irish whiskey, which requires you to keep the product sitting in a cask for a minimum of three years and usually longer, is the biggest problem for small distilleries trying to survive this period. At the same time, the costs of production rose dramatically. The cost of the American oak barrels on which the Irish industry relies increased from around €100 in 2022 to around €285 in late 2024. 'If you take somebody like us, we would buy 100,000 barrels a year, which meant we were spending $28.5 million on barrels just to go into inventory for three years,' Mr Teeling explained. Coinciding with that increase, the cost of malt, a key ingredient, more than doubled, and energy costs at Great Northern went from €4 million per annum to more than €12 million. The economic shocks caused by US tariffs came during a time when demand had softened, production costs had skyrocketed and interest rates were high, Rigney explained. Figures from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States show that 4.8 million nine-litre cases of Irish Whiskey were sold in the US in 2024, generating $1.2 billion (€1.07 billion) in revenue. With one case typically holding 12 bottles, that would equate to sales of nearly 60 million bottles of Irish whiskey in the US each year. This volume, for many distilleries, can be the single largest market for their product. It is understood that North American exports often make up as much as 40 per cent of revenue for many emerging Irish distilleries. Some 30 per cent of the sector's product sales were to the US last year, Ibec told The Irish Times last month. A lot of people are jumping to the notion that we have too many distilleries, or too many brands, I don't think we do 'At the moment, it is a very challenging environment in the biggest market that we have,' said IWA's Eoin Ó Catháin, noting that the industry has had to deal with 'some very significant economic headwinds'. In reaction to the trade chaos, distilleries across the country are pivoting to other emerging markets, but settling into new markets can take 'up to ten years' to build up reliable business connections, Mr Teeling said. Building up in any new market poses real challenges, said June O'Connell, the founder of Skellig Six18 Distillery. 'You can't just move whiskey around the world – it is incredibly regulated, mostly because of the taxes that are applied,' she said. She explained that establishing relationships in international markets is time-consuming and expensive, 'You are paying an importer, you are paying warehousing costs, you're paying costs to the distributor. There are a lot of people in the pricing tree. It is much easier said than done.' Despite all this, there is still optimism and plenty of distillers talking of 'industry resilience' and 'new market opportunities'. 'The gin industry went through a similar reset four or five years ago with significant fallout. Thankfully, Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin exited bigger, bolder and stronger,' Mr Rigney said. 'Whiskey, whether it is Irish, American or Scotch, is going through it now, and I'm sure that on the other side those that survive will be stronger brands – and also bigger and bolder.'
