Future proofing Scotch whisky for the years to come

But the world is constantly changing, so it’s vital that Scotch stays relevant to ensure its continued success in the years to come.

A new episode of The Scotsman’s Sustainable Scotland podcast delves into the topic of ‘The future of Scotch whisky in changing times'. This reflects on an event Scottish family business McLaren Packaging held in association with The Scotsman earlier this year at Barnbougle Castle on Dalmeny Estate in Edinburgh. The event, attended by around 70 guests, assembled expert panelists for two sessions chaired by The Scotsman’s Rosemary Gallagher. The first session explored the big picture on the outlook for Scotch and the second examined sustainability in its widest sense.

Scotch whisky - the big picture

Panelists:

Laurence Whyatt, director Barclays Equity research team focused on the Global Beverages market

Sebastian Burnside, chief economist NatWest

Sarah Badesha, head of engineering, Chivas Brothers

Piers Lawson, client director, Contagious Design

Mark Stevenson,co-founder of Carbon Removals company CUR8

Sebastian Burnside said: “The UK-India trade deal is something which many parts of the economy have been looking for for a long time.”

He added: “Scotch, and Scotland in itself as a brand, deserves an enormous amount of credit for punching above its weight in terms of its prominence and significance in people's minds, hearts and perceptions across the world.”

Laurence Whyatt explained the use of demographic changes to predict alcohol consumption. “The amount of alcohol consumed is really dictated by the number of young people aged from about 25 to 45. There are some countries with a growing young population and that’s good news. The US is one of them and one of the most important alcohol markets in the world.”

Mark Stevenson added: “One thing that is very clear is that the future is going to be very different than any of us can imagine. You might have heard this acronym, VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity - and I think we can all feel it.”

Turning to what Scotch whisky producers are doing to future-proof the industry, Sarah Badesha said: “We need to be competitive and at the forefront in terms of technology.”

Focusing on consumer behaviour and attitudes to brands, Piers Lawson explained: “At the moment we’re working a lot with clients to redefine codes of luxury within Scotch.”

Scotch whisky and sustainability

Panelists:

Donald McLaren, managing director, McLaren Packaging

Kristin Hughes, head of global sustainability Grain to Glass, Diageo

Jessica Stewart, head of sustainability, InchDairnie

Professor Tim George, Director of the International Barley Hub

SallyAnn Kelly, chief executive officer of Aberlour charity

Discussion during the second panel session covered a wide range of sustainability-related topics, from net zero to a diverse workforce.

Professor Tim George said: “We're interested in how we can improve the resilience of barley to the stresses associated with climate change.”

Kristin Hughes explained: “We're taking a very direct approach and have already invested quite a bit of CapEx to drive decarbonisation in our own operations.”

Jessica Stewart said: “When InchDairnie was built in 2015 the founder wanted to design a distillery that could overcome a lot of the challenges faced by the industry over the decades. We have a distillery with a huge amount of innovation; energy and water efficiency, alongside flavour, are at the core of the business.”

Donald McLaren, managing director of McLaren Packaging said its customers are wrestling with key challenges around sustainability: cost; different attitudes and legislation in different countries; and the huge amount of information to digest, including misinformation.

He explained: “We’re helping our customers with these things and it’s our job to steer our business in the right direction.”

Diversity and inclusion was discussed by panelists, and SallyAnn Kelly added: “We currently support about 1,000 unaccompanied asylum seeking children from all over the globe who have made their way to Britain through problematic and difficult routes,” she said. ”They are hugely motivated young people, but hold with them huge amounts of trauma because many of them have come from conflict zones. It's really important to us to hold onto inclusive values.”

Hear more about the discussions in the Sustainable Scotland podcast.