I don’t know if any readers have had similarly embarrassing moments but on several occasions a friend from abroad has asked for ‘something Scottish’ to go with their dinner in a restaurant when visiting. The startled response of ‘we don’t have any Scottish beers’ is always met with surprised dismay.
There is light at the end of the tunnel of course thanks to a surge in popularity for Scots products, with even my local pub/restaurant down here in London stocking the glorious Innes & Gun.
The reason Scottish drinks have been held back for too long may be glimpsed by reading this compelling story of Diageo threatening to pull sponsorship of a drinks award if the independent awards for Bar of the Year wasn’t changed:
Diageo screws Brewdog:
However we (Brewdog) were not announced as winners of the award. This disappointment was further compounded when one of the judges (seated at our table) told us in disbelief ‘this simply cannot be, the independent judging panel voted for BrewDog as clear winners of the award’. Events took a further twist when the people who got given the award refused to accept it as it clearly had ‘BrewDog’ engraved on the trophy as winners.
It’s not the first time Diageo has screwed over Scotland of course, ruthlessly pulling Johnnie Walker out of Kilmarnock leaving hundreds unemployed and reorganising the group to not only avoid tax but receive a £76m credit.
Boycott is a strong word, but consumer power is important. So, maybe next time it’s worth switching that Diageo Guinness for a Trashy Blonde, if where you are stocks it, of course.
#1 by Shuna on May 12, 2012 - 11:01 am
Inagree this was a monumental faux pa by someone, but to call for a boycott is a bit strong. Diageo have been investing millions in the Scottish economy and will doing so for some years to come as their growth programme continues. I know this as my hubby is a project manager with them. He is going to be kept very busy for the next few years building/extending distilleries all over the place.
The Kilmarnock saga was not good for the people of Kilmarnock, I will grant you that. But ask the people of Leven and you will get a different story.(again my hubby managed the extension of the bottling halls there, so I know how much was invested.
Diageo also donated the site at Kilmarnock to the college and Mr Salmond swallowed enough pride ( or showed extreme arrogance depending on how you look at it) to be there for the big handover. A long way from his marching through Kilmarnock promising the people Diageo would not leave!
Diageo are a good news story for Scotland, as is the whole whisky industry at the moment.
As I said at the beginning this Brew Dog story is a big mistake made by someone but we should support our growth industries.
BTW my hubby is a great fan of Brew Dog beers!
#2 by Jeff on May 12, 2012 - 11:59 am
Which is why I’m not suggesting a boycott. (it’d be laughable to think one could dent Diageo’s booming sales with one, aside from anything else).
There’s lots of space between a boycott and doing nothing though, and pointedly picking a Brewdog option if it’s there for you isn’t a bad way to put a bit more power in the craft brewery’s elbow.
#3 by Richard Thomas on May 12, 2012 - 12:13 pm
I appreciate that Brewdog is topical but a word for the two Orkney breweries wouldn’t come amiss. Dark Island is about the best beer, bottled or draught, around.
#4 by Jeff on May 12, 2012 - 12:57 pm
I’m in Orkney on Thursday, looking forward to putting it to the test!
#5 by Alec on May 12, 2012 - 3:06 pm
Given the state of the Caithness tourist industry, I assume you either are flying-in or getting the ferry from Aberdeen.
Dark Island is teh best. Soon the county should have a new whisky.
~alec
#6 by Jeff on May 12, 2012 - 4:13 pm
Flying in. Won’t make it to Thurso though, not this time. Would love a surfing trip that way.
And there’s another new whisky out in Ardnamurchan – http://www.adelphidistillery.com/
#7 by Alec on May 12, 2012 - 4:49 pm
That’s a shame, I could have shook you by the throat!
Although surf remains up, O’Neill won’t be here this year. It shows how badly the local enterprise bodies have managed the Dounreay largess that they go into a panic when a single surfing event is cancelled.
~alec
#8 by Jeff on May 12, 2012 - 4:51 pm
I’d settle for the conventional handshake!
#9 by forfar-loon on May 12, 2012 - 2:33 pm
Dark Island is indeed the finest brew in the world Richard. Jeff’s right to praise Innis and Gunn beers though, also excellent, especially the rum cask version. Hic!
#10 by Aidan on May 13, 2012 - 12:37 am
You should check out the work Tempest have been doing recently, Rye PA, Emanation, Cresta are all when-Harry-met-Sally outstanding.
(full disclosure, I’m a BrewDog shareholder)
#11 by Martin Cunningham on May 12, 2012 - 2:49 pm
Had a look at the Brewdog website and noticed something that induced a moment of clarity. If you are a regular tippler of their fine ales, Minimum Pricing won’t affect you at all.
#12 by Aidan on May 13, 2012 - 12:38 am
Nope. They’re on the record as being in favour of it: http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/increased-beer-duty-a-blessing-for-craft-beer
#13 by Alec on May 12, 2012 - 3:03 pm
Fife no longer part of Scotland?
~alec
#14 by Jeff on May 12, 2012 - 4:14 pm
Kilmarnock jobs lost ~700. Fife jobs created ~400.
Perhaps “screwed over” is a bit strong, but anything that brings the SNP and Labour together must be something special (unless it’s the Forth Crossing, of course).
#15 by Alec on May 12, 2012 - 4:43 pm
It’s not the level of screwing-overness which is being questioned . It’s the presentation of it as an explicitly anti-Scotland move.
I saw the idiocy behind this when Salmond hijacked the local TUC/community march with guff about not yielding to “London boardrooms”, as if the people of Leven weren’t hoping for relocation (as their SNP MSPs were working behind the scenes to ‘screw-over’ Kilmarnock).
~alec
#16 by Craig on May 12, 2012 - 7:41 pm
A special example of politicians at their worst, putting their own popularity before the facts.
A quick look at Google Maps at the time demonstrated why production was to be moved from Kilmarnock to Leven.
But politicians (across parties and tiers of government) insisted on diving in without pausing to consider that just maybe there was a clear logic behind the plans. That they seriously considered throwing public money at short term bribes, when, as Diageo pointed out at the time, there were more pressing areas needing funding, was disgraceful.
That episode said a lot more about our politicians than about the companies that invest in Scotland. And not in a good way.
#17 by Longshanker on May 12, 2012 - 4:08 pm
Has Shuna ever heard of Cardhu whisky? Or the fact that Johnnie Walker isn’t even Scots? It hasn’t been Scots since the year 2000. Total tax avoidance from Diageo as exposed by the Guardian.
Thanks to HMRC’s Dave Hartnett (he of the Vodafone tax write off) Diageo got away with having to pay some token change rather than the £100 million per year that they should be paying to the exchequer.
As for Diageo’s dealings with Scottish farmers come grain and barley negotiation time, think supermarkets and dairy farmers.
How dare Shuna say they are good for Scotland. They are another example of corporate bully boys who can get away with just about anything due to their economy of scale economics.
Shameful comment. Shameful. It’s well seen they benefit her. Hang the rest of Scotland.
Diageo’s Johnnie Walker trades on the good name of Scotland while simultaneously giving it the finger.
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée should have been in place before Diageo got their corrupting hands on Johnnie Walker.
Diageo’s heritage is of the Ernest Saunders school of integrity – he of the memorable memory loss which was forgotten about after he used it to get out of jail.
Brewdog was no accident. It’s the modus operandi of corporates like Diageo. Ask anyone in the know.
#18 by Alec on May 12, 2012 - 4:45 pm
How much tax has the Graun avoided paying through creative accounting with Autotrader and domicile status in the Caymen Islands? There’s a lot of sanctimony surrounding tax avoidance measures.
~alec
#19 by Ken on May 12, 2012 - 5:43 pm
“Diageo’s Johnnie Walker trades on the good name of Scotland while simultaneously giving it the finger.”
I think globally Johnnie Walker trades on the good name of Johnnie Walker.
#20 by Barbarian on May 12, 2012 - 6:55 pm
Bottom line is private companies can do what the hell they like. While right to express concern, Salmond made a huge mistake joining the march. That sort of stuff you leave to local MSPs and MPs. Think he learned a lot of lessons from that one.
And I prefer Irish Cider……..(heretic I hear you cry)
#21 by Shuna on May 13, 2012 - 12:34 am
Longshanker, actually I live about 6 miles from Cardhu distillery. As someone who grew up with a father employed for almost all his adult life by the whisky industry, a husband who has be gainfully employed by Diageo for over 20 years and who is minister to a parish in the heart of Speyside, perhaps I see the benefit companies like Diageo bring to local employment. The are currently ploughing millions of £s into the local economy and providing much needed employment opportunities. In the current climate this is not something to slam.
Your comment was quite an attack on what benefit you seem to think I get and that I don’t care about the rest of Scotland. Not only do I find that offensive but your statement is inaccurate. In the last 20 years my hubby has worked on projects in Skye, Speyside, the Highlands, Fife, Glasgow, Islay….that’s quite a geographical spread…hardly parochial. And money is being invest all over Scotland currently in what is one of Scotland’s few growth industries.
Is an industry that currently exports more of what it produces than its domestic uptake a bad thing?
#22 by Longshanker on May 13, 2012 - 10:18 pm
Alec – playground argument more fitting of the SNP re Murdoch and Labour. Two wrongs don’t make a right. I don’t give a fig about the Graun. Doesn’t make what they reported any less true, does it?
KEN
Johnnie Walker doesn’t actually have a good name anymore because its provenance was killed by Diageo. Ultimately, they have damaged the brand because of this.
Initial decision to close Kilmarnock plant was made by a bean counter in 2007. Nothing to do with their marketing department which – as I’ve been led to believe – internally opposed the move.
#23 by Longshanker on May 13, 2012 - 10:48 pm
Shuna
Apologies. I wouldn’t want to personally attack you.
The Cardhu reference concerned the duplicity of Diageo re: the Pure Malt, Single Malt and Blended Malt fiasco. Diageo were found out and banged to rights – pure and simple.
You asked: “Is an industry that currently exports more of what it produces than its domestic uptake a bad thing?”
If it paid its due in corporate taxes to the country of origin – probably not. But it doesn’t, so yes, it is a bad thing.
Making profit is fine. When it turns into profiteering at the expense of almost everyone else, it’s a hateful thing.
DIageo is a damaged brand itself. It’s origins are in dodgy dealing and corporate bullying.
Nevertheless, it has a lot to commend it and I wouldn’t want to demean your family’s achievements.
Unfortunately, there’s even more to condemn Diageo.
Do you believe in Paul Walsh’s ‘integrity’ or ‘equitable societies’ or ‘sustainable communities’?
I don’t. It’s a sham. Just like the Johnnie Walker brand now that the 200 year Kilmarnock link is broken.