"It's a really challenging time in Scotch whisky at the moment," admits Graeme Littlejohn, Director of Strategy & Communications at the Scotch Whisky Association. "I guess we'd call it an inflexion point for the industry."
That's a view we've heard from several contributors on the podcast in our previous 21 episodes.
For instance, in Episode 15 Andrew Symington of Edradour Distillery told John the industry was facing "headwinds". Andrew identified the cost of living crisis; the effects of Brexit; global supply chain issues; international competition; and over production and over pricing. Whisky writer Charles Maclean also identified over production in Episode 7. He described it as a "whisky ocean".
And in recent weeks there have been announcements of job losses and investments being postponed. So are we in a slow down?
Perhaps.
But while Graeme acknowledges that "Scotch whisky is under a lot of pressure in the global market place" and some smaller producers are "really struggling right now", he insists there's a "great deal of resilience" in the industry.
There are, he says, over 150 Scottish distilleries producing 22,000 different "expressions of whisky" and exporting them to 168 markets worldwide at the rate of 44 bottles a second. It's a £7 billion plus industry, and £5.4 billion come from exports. Scotch whisky makes up 25 percent of UK food and drink exports. And the industry supports nearly 70,000 jobs.
It's also a long-term game, with producers thinking 10, 20 even 30 years ahead. And with developing markets in India, China and South America to be cracked, Graeme says we might discover we don't have enough whisky to meet demand if we get it right.
Join John as he chats to Graeme about the challenges and opportunities facing the Scotch whisky industry; the SWA's vision for the sector over the next couple of decades; the "symbiotic relationship" between Scotch and American whiskey; and what the UK and Scottish governments can to do to support the industry.
Slàinte!
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Creator & producer: David Holmes
Art work & design: Jess Robertson
Music: Water of Life (Never Going Home)
Vocals: Andrea Cunningham
Guitars: John Beattie
Bass: Alasdair Vann
Drums: Alan Hamilton
Bagpipes: Calum McColl
Accordion: Gary Innes
Music & Lyrics: Andrea Cunningham & John Beattie
Recorded & mixed by Murray Collier at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
Special thanks: The Piper Whisky Bar, 57 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, Scotland
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