Tariffs, Brexit and a pandemic, a bitter cocktail for Scotland’s oldest whiskey restaurant

Glenturret Distillery, Scotland’s oldest whiskey shop, founded in 1763, has survived two world wars, Prohibition and the Great Depression, but the sum of US tariffs, Brexit and a pandemic led to one of the most difficult periods of its history. history.

A popular hangout for whiskey lovers, now the distillery, strangely quiet since it closed to the public due to confinement against the coronavirus, lives only to the sound of the nearby Turret River and the rolling of oak barrels.

The restrictions due to the pandemic led to a reduction in whiskey sales in pubs, restaurants and airport shops.

But the biggest damage is being caused by the 25% tariffs imposed on whiskey by the United States since October 2019 and the current slowdown in exports to Europe after Brexit, its director general, John Laurie, tells AFP.

“These are very difficult times for us,” he stresses.

“The covid is affecting tourism, Brexit has hurt exports and the tariffs on Scotch whiskey in the United States have really created problems,” he lists.

The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, whose full effects were felt once the transition period ended on December 31, 2020, has led to an increase in the procedures necessary to export to the continent.

On its website, the distillery warns that it has suspended deliveries to the EU and is trying to solve these problems.

“We have a strong demand in Europe and we want to try to satisfy it, and wanting is power so we will find a way to overcome this difficult period,” says Laurie.

The problems that Glenturret faces are representative of those that the entire Scotch whiskey industry suffers from.

As the Scotch Whiskey Association (SWA) said in February, world exports of Scotch whiskey fell by more than 1.1 billion pounds ($ 1.5 billion, 1.3 billion euros) to 3.8 billion pounds in 2020.

Exports to the EU fell by more than 15%, to 1.25 billion pounds in 2020. And that’s not counting the impact, not yet measured, of the effects of Brexit that are felt after the end of the transition period.

– “Old and resistant industry” –

The US tariffs were imposed in the context of a trade dispute between the EU and the US over subsidies to European aircraft manufacturers Airbus and US Boeing.

Before the imposition of these punitive tariffs, the US market for Scotch whiskey was valued at 1.06 billion pounds. By 2020 it had been reduced by almost a third, to 729 million pounds.

In the view of SWA Executive Director Karen Betts, these figures are “a stark reminder” of the challenges facing the Scotch whiskey industry, which directly employs some 10,000 people.

“The sector lost 10 years of growth in 2020 and it will take time to regain a strong position,” he warned after the sector’s figures were released in February.

The SWA laments the “intransigence” of the British, European and American leaders that led to the imposition of tariffs and calls on them to end a trade war with which the whiskey industry “has nothing to do”.

Trapped in this difficult situation, the Glenturret distillery tries to draw inspiration from its past to overcome the crisis.

“We went through prohibition in the United States, wars, we have been through many different situations in our global economy and yet we have survived,” Laurie recalls, in an optimistic tone.

“Our industry is incredibly old and resilient, and we are fortunate to have a product that people around the world appreciate, so even though this is an extremely difficult time, we know we are going to make it through,” he says.

srg-acc / zm

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