Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky arm of Pernod Ricard, has announced plans to invest £60 million to reach its goal of carbon neutral distillation by the end of 2026 as it declared 17 per cent growth in net sales in the year to the end of June 2023.
The planned investment will be spread across the next three years to accelerate its energy and carbon reduction journey, achieving carbon neutral distillation by 2026. It follows the company’s move to make its heat recovery technology learnings open source for the industry, after proving successful at Glentauchers distillery, with a 53 per cent reduction in carbon emissions at this site alone, stated the brand last week.
While driving down its carbon footprint, the brand says it will also invest in strategic inventory management, ensuring a future-fit model that continues to meet the global demand for its Scotch whiskies.
Chivas Brothers chairman and CEO, Jean-Etienne Gourgues, said, “The historic highs we’re seeing across our strategic brands signal the success of our premiumisation strategy which has enabled Chivas Brothers to outperform the market. Our highest growth of the last decade reinforces our position to shape the future of sustainable Scotch while continuing to meet demand.”
In July, the brand made its carbon-reducing technology available to the wider industry. The move was made after the firm’s heat recovery technology was integrated at Pernod Ricard’s Glentauchers distillery in Scotland, lowering the site’s carbon emissions by 53 per cent.
“We have fast-tracked a number of sustainability initiatives to meet our own ambitious targets and remain committed to supporting the industry in ushering in this new era – as we demonstrated earlier this year by making our heat recovery findings open sourc," reports quoted Gourgues as saying.
Brian McLister
