Innis & Gunn has filed annual accounts for 2013 showing total sales breaking through the £10m barrier for the first time.
Turnover to the end of December 2013 was up 15% year on year to £10.5m, a more moderate increase on 2012 (23%) as a result of movements in foreign exchange.
Over the 12-month period, Innis & Gunn moved its entire canning and bottling operation to one site and introduced innovative lower-weight 660ml and 330ml bottles, both measures helping the company to reduce its CO2 emissions by 2,000 tonnes over three years. The brewer also financed the six-figure design and development of second-generation Oakerators — the high-tech vessels that are used to mature its beers — which were put into production in December 2013.
Founder and chief executive at Innis & Gunn, Dougal Sharp, said: “The Oakerators were ground-breaking when they were first built in 2010. They augment the barrel ageing we do and enable us to be a lot more scientific in our brewing process to extract the very best flavour from the oak, with far greater certainty that every drop produced would taste the same — something we could never fully achieve through barrel ageing.”
International sales at Innis & Gunn continued to perform strongly with existing markets meeting business forecasts, yet exceptional growth in the UK on- and off-trade reduced the company’s overall export dominance to 71% from 78% in 2012. The introduction of Lager and Toasted Oak IPA to the brand’s core stable of beers contributed to Innis & Gunn’s success. The brewer’s flagship beer, Original, is now the best-selling bottled ale by value in the Scottish off-trade (source: IRI, Scottish Premium Bottled Ales, value MAT to May 2014).
The news follows the announcement last week that the brewer has signed an exclusive three-year agreement with Thatchers Cider to assume all marketing and promotional support for Thatchers Gold in the USA. As part of the contract, Innis & Gunn’s team in the USA will immediately double in size, bringing the global headcount at the Edinburgh-based brewer to 45.
