Welcome to the third episode of In Conversation With… hosted this month by Principal Consultant Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. On today’s episode Mark is joined by John Stirling (Director at Arbikie Distilling Limited). They discuss how John draws on different strengths within the family business to sustainably produce a premium brand spirit, controlling the whole production process, starting with quality home-grown ingredients. Mark and John explore how to add value to the crops grown on farm, marketing of products and how to remain competitive in the marketplace. To finish, John outlines his vision for the future of Arbikie. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government.
Episode Timestamps
03.34 Arbikie – a historical family business
07.00 Drawing on family skill sets
10.23 Lightbulb moment!
12.34 Varietal resilience
14.35 Different crops and the processing calendar
18.20 The world’s first climate positive spirits
20.34 Intercropping
22.57 The premium market – quality over quantity
25.06 Producing base spirit at Arbikie
28.51 Unique selling points – locality, short supply chain, sustainability
