Local liquer businesses exporting to the US not deterred by new tariffs

SALLY HARDING

The owner of an Irish liqueur business based near Donaghpatrick says Trump's tariffs will not deter their plans to further expand into the U.S market with the firm planning to double their trade.

The American president last week announced a 20 per cent tariff on all imports from the European Union, as part of a series of measures imposed on goods from countries across the globe.

It means Irish goods on US supermarket shelves will rise in price significantly.

Mary Saddlier, CEO of Coole Swan says that despite the tariff set back, the firm is more committed than ever to the North American market that equates to 50% of its total revenue.

"Since we started in Business we have been experiencing challenges every day with the likes of price rises and Covid," says Mary.

"Then we had Brexit one and Brexit two, we had Trump the first time around and we had a port strike last year, where we had to airlift our stock to North America," she added.

"So Trump has made this interesting, but this is the world of doing international trade, the 20 per cent it's a bit of a bummer. But we're very resilient, and we we've great customers in the US, so we're going to stay going.

"You have to see every obstacle as an opportunity, and you just have to put your big girl's trousers on and get out there and trade. We are going to face it head on and double our market out there, in spite of the tariffs."

20,000 cases of the Irish cream liquor are shipped to the U.S annually and supplied to retailers in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Kansas, Illonois and New Hampshire but it is not the only market for Coole Swan according to Mary who said.

"We export to Alberta, in Canada. We export to Germany, the UK, Ireland. And we're just dipping our toes water in China and Africa, and that's because the Irish government have done sterling work in opening up those markets for Irish brands.

"If it wasn't for Boyne Valley Foods, Meath County Council and LEO, I don't know where we'd be."

The Coole Swan boss says the secret to its success is "good Meath grass!"

"For us, we are whiskey, white chocolate and cream, and the cream comes straight from the farm here . If you use real cream, you don't use additives but the problem for most brands is using real cream is hugely expensive, it's a commodity. So we are very proud of being able to bring a high quality Meath product to the markets globally without compromising on our ingredients.

Taking into account the fact that the customer is ultimately going to pick up the tab of the tariff hike in the form of increased prices of goods on the shelf, I wondered if this caused concern that fewer units of the product might be sold.

"If I was to worry about that, I wouldn't be in business. Like my competitors could bring out a free George Clooney with every cream liquor in North America tomorrow. If I was to worry about that stuff I wouldn't get out of bed. There's a great quote Dwight Eisenhower once said, "it's about the planning, not the plan." So we are planning ferociously at 24/7 to stay ahead of any knocks and challenges. And every time we see an obstacle, we say, Where's the opportunity?"

Keeping with the fighting spirits theme, Peter Cooney Export Director of Boann Distillery based in Drogheda maintains "there's always opportunity in chaos."

" We'll just work harder to develop emerging markets, as opposed to just America," he said.

"Unfortunately, the only loser in this is the consumer in America," added Peter

"They're they're not going to have choice. They're gonna have higher price goods and availability won't be there.

"For example, if we had a bottle of whiskey in America for $50 after the tariff is supplied, that will probably become a $60 bottle of whiskey."

Currently, 30% of everything Boann produces is exported to America as Peter explains.

"The way America works with alcohol is that you need an importer, then you need a distributor and then you need a retailer. The three of them cannot be linked, so it's like three separate entities that you have to go through to get the product to the consumer or on the shelf but each state has different laws.

"So I always explain America like it's kind of like 50 countries. Each state has a different different law, but we would be distributed in all 50 states for some of our brands.

"30% of everything we make it goes to America, but 70% goes to 80 other markets around the world. So thank God we're not completely reliant on it.

"Ten years ago, 75% was going to America, so I quickly got involved and started taking the eggs out of that basket and spreading them the whole way around the world.

"We've opened markets in Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Ghana, markets where there's not a lot of competition and sometimes you can even be the first Irish brand there and can set the scene."