FDBusiness.com

In response to the continued growth of its Jameson Irish whiskey brand on world markets, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard has announced a €100 million investment in the expansion of its distillery in Midleton, CountyCork. In the year to end June 2011, a total of 3.4 million cases of Jameson were sold worldwide.

 

The Distillery in Midleton is now operating at full capacity and in order to meet the continued growing demand for Jameson, an expansion of the distillery is necessary. As part of the investment, sixty manufacturing and technical jobs will be created, bringing the company’s total employee numbers inIrelandto 560. Thirty of the jobs will be at the distillery in Midleton and thirty at the company’s bottling plant at Fox & Geese inDublin.

 

Subject to the normal planning process, 250 construction jobs will arise from the 15-month construction process, which is expected to start in 2012. There will be additional benefits to the local economy arising from the investment. Irish Distillers currently sources 33,000 tonnes of Irish barley each year, supporting 11,000 acres of farmed land. As the Jameson brand continues to grow, so will the agricultural benefit.

 

While upholding the heritage and traditions of whiskey distilling at Midleton, the expansion programme will include contemporary best-practice methods in environmental sustainability. Per litre of alcohol distilled, there will be a reduction of 33% in energy consumed and 20% in water consumed respectively.

 

Earlier this year, Irish Distillers announced a further Eur100 million investment in a new whiskey maturation facility in Dungourney near Midleton.

 

“Jameson is now in its twenty-third consecutive year of growth and is experiencing double-digit growth in forty markets,” says Anna Malmhake, chairman and chief executive of Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard. “With this investment, we are confirming Midleton, where the tradition of distilling dates back to 1825, as the global centre of Irish whiskey production.”

 

Irish Distillers Group was formed in 1966, when a merger took place between Irish whiskey distillers John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son and the Cork Distillery Company. In an attempt to reverse the decline in Irish whiskey sales, the board of directors decided to close the existing distilleries in Cork and Dublin, and to consolidate production at a new purpose-built facility.

 

A site alongside the existing distillery in Midleton was chosen as the location for the new distillery, as there was no room for expansion in Dublin. Both the Old Jameson Distillery and the Old Midelton Distillery currently operate as visitor centres attracting close to 300,000 visitors annually. Following an early unsolicited takeover offer and one of the most protracted battles in Irish corporate history made by GrandMet, Allied-Lyons and Guinness, Irish Distillers was taken over by Pernod Ricard in June 1988 with the support of the management and employees.