St Andrews drinks producer Eden Mill is still on target to double its turnover despite the uncertainty caused to part of its export trade by Brexit.
With the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, chief executive Paul Miller has stalled the Guardbridge distiller and brewer’s plans to grow sales in Europe.
He is storming ahead with initiatives in the United States and China which he says have strong prospects especially for Eden Mill’s range of gins.
He stated: “There are plusses and minuses because of what happened with the EU vote.
“The weaker £ has helped the sales of our products overseas and has made it cheaper for overseas tourists to visit us.
“It has also brought more challenges in countries where we were hoping to grow.
“With the uncertainty over exports to Europe after Brexit we will put plans we had for Spain, Portugal, Italy and France on hold.
“That is not the case with the US and China where we are very excited about our prospects.
“Earlier this year we predicted doubling our turnover for the second year to £5 million, and that is still our aim.”
Eden Mill is capitalising on the huge Stateside interest in golf and Scotland to promote its range of gins which it can proudly declare as being from the game’s home.
This month sees the launch of its gins in Florida to be followed by 13 other states including the major markets of New York and California.
There is also potential for exporting Eden Mill’s expertise in distilling whisky through a joint venture with a producer in Colorado.
The enormity of the Chinese market, with its growing class of affluent consumers, has presented further opportunities.
Eden Mill is promoting its gin through upmarket hotels in major cities, and is now measuring its monthly bottle sales by the thousands.
Its marketing in China is largely through WeChat, similar to Facebook, on which it has a Mandarin language platform.
Eden Mill’s workforce has risen in four years from three to 36, and Paul envisages a further rise as the firm prospers.
