Stock Spirits has decided to a shut a manufacturing facility in Germany, blaming production costs.
The Amundsen vodka owner is closing its Baltic Distillery in the town of Dettmannsdorf by the end of the year. The site in eastern Germany, one of two Stock Spirits has in the country, employs 35 staff.
Baltic Distillery produces pure alcohol, which Stock Spirits told Just Drinks is “largely used internally”. Less than 10% of the production is sold to external customers.
Stock Spirits, which is owned by private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners, pointed to the factory’s “lack of price competitiveness in the spirits market”.
The company also cited its “sustainability commitments”, adding Baltic Distillery generates the “majority” of its CO2 emissions. It declined to give a precise figure.
Earlier this year, Stock Spirits completed the construction of a new factory in the Polish city of Lublin, which the company said is the biggest distillery in the country. It said the site will cover Dettmannsdorf’s production.
By 2030, the Clan Campbell whisky owner has a target to cut its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% against a 2015 baseline. It is looking to reduce its Scope 3 emissions by “approximately 20%”. The Scope 3 target does not include the Lublin distillery or M&A.
In Stock Spirits’ 2023 Sustainability Report, it said it had cut its Scope 1 GHG emissions by 27.2% when compared to 2015 to 26,587.3 tCO2e.
On Scope 2, the company had achieved a 7.8% reduction of its “location-based” emissions and a 96.9% fall in “market-based” emissions.
In June, Stock Spirits submitted a planning application for a distillery for the production of Clan Campbell Scotch.
Stock Spirits intends to invest £25m ($33.4m) in the distillery in Scotland, which will produce single malt whisky for use in the Clan Campbell Scotch blends.
The company acquired Clan Campbell from Pernod Ricard in 2023.