Independent Stave Continues Expansion The IWSR U.S. Report

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 | MODERN DISTILLERY AGE
VOLUME 6 | NUMBER 33
Independent Stave
Continues Expansion
Independent Stave’s fifth American oak stave mill has come online and is
now fully operational. Transformed from an empty 58-acre field to a state-ofthe-art stave mill in just two years, Morehead Wood Products began operating
in September and is now supplying high-quality staves for the company’s
Kentucky Cooperage in Lebanon, Ky. This new stave mill is one of several
projects Independent Stave has established to support the growth of the
bourbon industry.
The
IWSR U.S. Report
Special to Modern Distillery Age – by Piotr Poznanski, IWSR
USA 2014 was a tough year for some of the biggest
distilled spirits brands in the U.S. market as the surging
craft sector took share and Millennial consumers
showed signs of eschewing mainstream brands.
Four out of the top five largest brands in the U.S. saw
volume declines in 2014, according to The IWSR’s
latest research.
Diageo’s Smirnoff, the market leader, saw sales
fall -3.1% to 9.1 million cases. It marks the second
consecutive year of decline. Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes
flagged up the problem at last year’s H1 interim results,
attributing it to over-aggressive price increases and
promised heavier promotional activity in 2015.
In a continuation of a long-term trend, secondranked Bacardí fell -5.1% to 7.3 million cases. The
brand has posted year-on-year declines since 2007.
Third-ranked Captain Morgan (-3.3%) and fifthranked Crown Royal (-1.6%), both Diageo brands, also
lost ground. Seventh-ranked Absolut was also hard
hit, falling -7.3% to 4.4 million cases.
continued on page 12
Morehead Wood Products opened its doors in early September and is soon
adding a second shift. The mill also has plans to add a third shift in 2016.
“This has been an exciting time of investment and expansion as we support
the significant growth our distilling customers are experiencing,” said Brad
Boswell, president and fourth-generation cooper. “By production capacity, this
new stave mill is now the second largest stave mill in the world, allowing us to
greatly increase our supply of high-quality American white oak.”
Independent Stave has served the spirits industry since its inception in
1912, first as a domestic supplier of staves, and today as a cooperage company
crafting a wide range of barrels and oak products. The company has maintained
a longstanding philosophy of sourcing oak through company-owned stave
mills to ensure quality, traceability and consistency from the beginning of
the process.
“When Independent Stave began researching locations for its fifth stave
mill, Morehead, Ky., quickly became a top contender thanks to an excellent
work force and an ideal location surrounded by forests known for cooperagequality white oak,” the company said in a statement. Independent Stave
purchased land and then developed technology for the mill through its inhouse engineering team.
“Building a stave mill from scratch has many advantages, including the
ability to optimize each step of the process through proven techniques and
new innovations,” said Boswell. “We have pushed ourselves throughout the
development process to build on our experience and look for ways to further
improve our quality and processes — which then becomes a direct benefit to
our distilling customers.”
continued on page 12
Legal Breakthrough for
Scotch Whisky in China
A Chinese court ruling in favor of Scotch Whisky
against a packaging firm in the Anhui province of the
country is being heralded as a legal breakthrough and
a warning to other potential counterfeiters.
The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has won
a court battle against Anhui Guangyu Packaging
Technology in the Anqing Intermediate People’s Court
in eastern China. The firm was manufacturing bottle
caps imprinted with the words “Scotch Whisky.” These
caps were used on bottles of fake “Scotch” appearing
on sale more than 1,000 miles away in Myanmar.
The SWA sued Guangyu and its director using
intellectual property rights around the words “Scotch
Whisky.” Guangyu defended proceedings, but the
court has now upheld the SWA’s complaint and
granted an injunction ordering Guangyu to stop
infringement of the “Scotch Whisky” trademark and
pay damages and costs.
The court victory represents a number of “firsts” for
the industry, according to the SWA.
“Although the SWA has obtained many favorable
administrative decisions against infringers, this was
the first time it had concluded proceedings in the
Chinese civil courts,” the SWA said in a statement.
continued on page 12
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