Jameson exports set to rocket with Irish Distillers’ €100m investment
Exports of Jameson are expected to rocket further in the next few years following the announcement that its makers, Irish Distillers, is set to invest another €100 million in its flagship whiskey, which will result in the creation of 60 jobs in Cork and Dublin.
The Pernod Ricard-owned company is set to build an extra 24 15-metre-high fermenters and a new still at its plant in Midleton, Co Cork.
Each of the fermenters can hold up to 200,000 litres of whiskey. Construction is expected to start next March and take 15 months to complete.
Around 250 construction jobs will be created by the development.
Earlier this year the company announced another €100m project in the nearby village of Dungourney.
It is building 40 huge warehouses there where the whiskey will be matured.
It is expected that the first of these warehouses will become operational in early 2014.
Half of the 60 jobs created will be in Midleton, while the others will be at the company’s bottling plant in Dublin.
The company currently employs 110 people in Midleton.
When Pernod Ricard took over Irish Distillers in 1988 the company was selling 400,000 cases of Jameson annually.
That climbed to 3.4 million cases this year and the company plans to increase sales to nine million by 2020.
Sales of the whiskey are increasing significantly in the US, South Africa and France and even growing in popularity in the likes of India, Vietnam, Anglo and Mexico.
The company’s chairman and chief executive, Anna Malmhake, said the investment was a reflection of the international success of Jameson and the future potential for the brand.
“Jameson is now in its 23rd consecutive year of growth and is experiencing double-digit growth in 40 markets,” Ms Malmhake said.
The Midleton plant is worth around €60m annually to the local economy and this is expected to grow in the coming years.
Production director Peter Morehead said there was also good news for local barley-growers.
Irish Distillers currently purchases 33,000 tonnes of barley each year, but Mr Morehead said this was likely to nearly double within the next 10 years.
John Mullins, president of Cork Chamber, said Pernod Ricard’s decision to invest in East Cork “was a real vote of confidence for this region”.
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