Diageo says it is committed to keeping local supply chains

The Irish Farmers Journal placed a number of questions to Diageo in relation the cutting of contracts at Stradbally Town and Country by Boortmalt – one of its main suppliers of malt.

These questions covered sustainability, carbon emissions in transport, the loss of income on family farms and the stoppage of malting barley growing on farms that have supplied the company for over 150 years – the traditional malting growers of Ireland.

Diageo’s response was: “In Ireland, we are proud to use 100% Irish-grown grain in every drop of the Irish beers we produce. This reflects a deep and long-standing commitment to Irish farming families and to sustaining local supply chains.

“Irish grain sits at the heart of our brewing heritage and as we continue to invest in the future of Irish brewing, we will be using more Irish grain than ever before – further strengthening our support for Irish farmers and the wider agricultural economy in Ireland.”

Comment

It is well-known that Diageo buys 130,000-140,000t of Irish barley every year and that its brand is built on native barley. The expansion of its brewery in Newbridge is welcome.

It should be great news, but Diageo cannot carry on as if growers are not being treated badly down the supply chain. The economics on tillage farms are becoming harder to stack up, and the story behind the famous pint is moving further away from the farm.

As the one million visitors to the Guinness Storehouse each year are told the story of Irish barley, the tour guide may now remove Laois from the list of malting barley suppliers.

The fanciful stories of farmers delivering from local sources are no more. If the intake just 14km away from the maltster has been put aside for intakes 200km away, then the sustainability story grows holes.

There seems to be fewer farmers taking up malting barley production than ever before, despite a campaign to say that good things are taking root.

While the story of farmers tilling the land after harvest to grow cover crops to improve the soil might sound good while visitors are on a weekend break in Dublin, eventually people begin to realise it doesn’t stack up when growers are losing whole contracts, losing parts of contracts and losing income.