The maker of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin plans to double down on its investment in the United States in spite of the impact of US president Donald Trump’s 15 per cent tariff on imported EU goods.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Pat Rigney, co-founder of the Shed Distillery in Co Leitrim with his wife Denise, said the company will invest heavily to grow its position in the US market.
“We’ll be increasing our investment in marketing, we’ll be increasing our innovation and we’ll be spending more time in the marketplace here. This is not a time for armchair marketing, you have to be on the streets and you have to support your partners,” he said.
“The good news for us is that our brand is doing well. We’re now the number four premium gin in the US. We’re growing at 15 per cent. The consumers love the brand, there are pockets of growth in the market and that’s where we’re going to focus.”
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The company plans to spend more than $3 million (€2.6 million) pushing the brand in the US, and recently took a large billboard on Times Square in New York to advertise the gin.
The US is one of Drumshanbo’s biggest markets, with more than 100,000 cases of the gin sold there last year.
“We’ve worked hard to get there from a standing start eight years ago and we’re not going to give it up. There’s a lot of graft and a lot of hard work involved and we’re not afraid of it.”
The investment will involve some new “expressions” of its award-winning gin, including a variation created with high-profile Italian mixologist Bruno Vanzan that has secured a listing with Publix, a large US grocery chain.
There will also be a push on social media, to garner 300 million impressions online, and more boots on the ground to push the brand in the US.
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Mr Rigney said Drumshanbo’s price tag hasn’t increased to reflect the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs (10 per cent since April 5th and 15 per cent currently).
He estimates that the tariff could, on average, add $2-$3 to the cost of a bottle of the Irish gin, although “obviously we will try to minimise that”.
To date, the Irish distillery has shared the tariff pain with its local distributor but he said prices would have to increase at some point this year.
“We went 50-50 with our partner in the US. But that is not sustainable because you’ve got 17 per cent depreciation in the dollar plus a 15 per cent tariff.
“Like everybody else, we will have to take a price increase. I don’t think we’ll get full recovery but we’ll have to get partial because we need to fund the investment in marketing and the costs [of producing the gin] in Ireland.
“All import brands will be going up. But we have momentum and momentum is everything here. Importers and the distribution system will reduce the number of brands that they will carry, there’s no question about that.
“They will tighten up their range because there is a 15 per cent hit whenever they import something. So it won’t be easy for new entrants. The fact that we’re in the market already, there’s a real opportunity for success.”
Mr Rigney said the Irish company has also secured listings for the gin with Disney Cruise Line, grocery chain Winn-Dixie and HMS Host, which operates airport venues.
When asked last December how big Gunpowder Irish Gin could become, Mr Rigney said: “I think we can get to half a million cases. We’re about 270,000 now. We’ve a long way to go. It’s a big leap but I think we will get there. We might do it in the next three to four years. It’s all about sales now.”
