Teeling Whiskey has secured an option to acquire a building next door to its distillery in Dublin’s Liberties in a move that will give it the scope to double its production capacity as it seeks to grow its global reach in the years ahead.
Founder Jack Teeling told The Irish Times the company had secured the option for the building from the family-run Creedon property group, which had previously intended to build an apartment block and retail units on the site at Newmarket Square in Dublin 8.
He expects the business to purchase the site before the end of its financial year in March. Subject to planning approval, this would give it the scope to increase its production capacity and extend its visitor centre, with the estimated cost at €10 million-plus, Mr Teeling said.
“We’re looking at plans about how we can extend the distillery here to cater for the future and the demand opportunities. This [property] gives us options to double the production and expand the visitor centre opportunity.”
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The Irish whiskey maker is now 79 per cent owned by Bacardi, following an investment by the Bermuda-based group in November 2022. Mr Teeling and his brother, Stephen Teeling, own 20 per cent of the business between them with, its master distiller holding a 1 per cent stake.
Bacardi originally had a 40 per cent stake, taken in 2017, with the group taking on distribution in the United States. The spirits giant now holds three of the five board seats at the Irish company, with the Teeling brothers filling the other places and retaining their leadership roles.
Mr Teeling said that post-Covid was the right time to “deepen our relationship” with Bacardi. “The deal was they would basically double their investment, become the majority shareholder and we could then look at how we could take advantage of other routes to market,” he said.
He said Bacardi would take over distribution next year in a number of key markets, including Germany, Sweden, Poland and the Benelux region, some markets in Asia, including India, and possibly in South America. “They have a good footprint on the ground that we can take advantage of… we’d probably gone as far as we could with the existing partners,” he said.
Mr Teeling founded the company in 2012, with his brother Stephen joining subsequently. He said the decision to sell a majority stake was not an emotional one.
“The way that I’ve always looked at it is what’s best for the brands, rather than what’s best for me. We want to become a global brand and all the steps we have taken have been about ensuring that we end up in the right place.”
Accounts just filed by Teeling Whiskey Company Ltd show that it made a pretax profit of €6.7 million on turnover of just under €34 million in the 15 months to the end of March 2023. This compared with a pretax profit of €5.1 million on turnover of €19.9 million in the year to the end of 2021, a period when the company was subject to Covid restrictions.
The change in its financial year end was implemented to align it with Bacardi’s reporting schedule. It sold 1.5 million bottles over the period as it bounced back strongly from pandemic limitations.
