The CEO of Whyte & Mackay has warned that the Scotch whisky group may “cease to exist” if Scotland’s Government pushes ahead with plans to introduce a minimum price on alcoholic drinks.
If a minimum price of GBP0.50 (US$0.76) per alcoholic unit were introduced, Whyte & Mackay has calculated that it would be forced to cut 300 jobs from its 480-strong workforce, group CEO John Beard has warned.
Minimum pricing will “decimate” the own label Scotch whisky market, to which Whyte & Mackay is the leading supplier in the UK, Beard told the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee this week.
“Whyte & Mackay, a company established in 1844, would essentially cease to exist in anything but name only,” he said, adding that the firm’s Grangemouth bottling plant would almost certainly be forced to close.
The ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) remains committed to introducing a minimum price on drinks to combat alcohol misuse in the country, but it has so far failed to gain political support for the move.
SNP documents have referenced a minimum price of between GBP0.40 and GBP0.50 per unit.
Whyte & Mackay, which is owned by Indian spirits giant United Spirits, said that a GBP0.50 per unit base price would see the price of own label whiskies rise by 37.5% to GBP14 in retailers.
“At that level, quality own label loses its competitive advantage and would be competing in the same price range as premium brands such as Famous Grouse and Bell’s Whisky,” said Beard.
“We have had it on good authority that supermarkets would likely delist own label products if the competitive advantage was lost and demand shifted to premium whisky,” he said.
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