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The Irish whiskey industry will support Irish farmers by buying more Irish produce and supplying more co-product for feed, according to the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA).
The IWA says Irish whiskey producers will also require traceability and sustainability credentials for any imported malt, maize or grain.
The IWA, the whiskey industry representative body within Ibec’s Drinks Ireland, outlined the objectives in its sustainability roadmap 2022, which it published on Monday.
The roadmap sets out a number of “actions” for whiskey producers across sustainability areas, including energy, grain, wood and water use.
According to the IWA, the Irish whiskey industry purchases over 100,000t of Irish barley and malt annually and production of distilling grade malt in Ireland has increased 400% over the past decade.
However, it says there is a requirement for whiskey producers to import maize which is not grown in Ireland, the total volume of which is not made clear by the IWA.
‘Regenerative agricultural practices’
On grain, the IWA also says that Irish whiskey producers will “sponsor or support the development and implementation of sustainable, regenerative agricultural practices in the tillage sector, including supporting measures to further reduce scope three emissions from tillage farming”.
The sector reports to be rolling out such “supporting measures” already and referenced the “Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme” run by Irish distillers, which “aims to support the long-term viability of the spring barley sector in Ireland by incentivising farmers to continually improve their sustainable practice”.
The IWA described the environmental credentials of the Irish tillage sector in its plans to make whiskey production more sustainable.
It said: “The Irish tillage sector is leading the way on sustainability in agriculture.
“This roadmap commits to supporting a sustainable and vibrant future for the Irish tillage sector and to actively supporting both farmers and maltsters to continue to reduce carbon emissions.”
Co-products
The IWA says the whiskey industry in Ireland already provides 350,000t of whiskey co-products, including spent grain or pot ale, to become animal feed annually.
However, the sector now plans to “re-use 100% of the co-products of Irish whiskey production to eliminate all organic waste”. It is not clear what increase this 100% will be on the current 350,000t per year.
The IWA also says that whiskey producers will “require that all Irish malt, barley and grain used in Irish whiskey production is certified by the Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS)”.
Green malt
In supporting its members reach their sustainability goals, the IWA says it will seek amendments to whiskey “product specification” to enable the use of greater volumes of “green malt”, with lower carbon emissions, in the production of grain Irish whiskey.
Through Drinks Ireland, the IWA says it will work with Teagasc, farmers and maltsters on initiatives to “support reductions in carbon emissions from both tillage farming and malting”.
Launching the roadmap at Tullamore Distillery in Co Offaly, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Senator Pippa Hackett said: “The Origin Green programme reflects the increasing focus from trade customers of Irish food and drink on delivering proof of sustainability at every stage of the food supply chain. This roadmap is therefore very timely.”
IWA director William Lavelle said the whiskey sector is “committed to minimising the life-cycle environmental impact of our production practices and our supply chains while maximising our support for Irish farming and local suppliers”.
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