Contract Distilling Becoming More Important?

With interest rates, grain prices, and the costs of energy up, the craft distilling industry faces a temporary slow down in growth. The rising prices provide challenges to existing craft distillers, but do they also generate opportunities? In talking to our customer Sean Anger, from the USA-based Fox & Seeker Distillery, we find out that there actually are!

Sean argues that, as less new craft distilleries open their doors, there are more opportunities for existing craft distilleries to help out with contract distilling. It works like this: new entries to the market do not want to front-up all the costs associated with starting a new distillery, given the current economic climate, but existing distillers can produce their spirits for them, earning both parties additional money.

There you have it: every challenge comes with an opportunity. Or, as my late mother used to say: "A door never closes without another one opening up!" The current higher entry-barriers to our industry - due to the higher energy, substrate, and finance costs - provide the opportunity to sell more contact distilling!

When we further discussed what would be needed for a craft distiller to venture into contract distilling, Sean said that it needs to be done in as affordable a manner as possible. He hailed the iStills as the distillery equipment of choice for many reasons, among which the control and energy efficiency that they offer, but added an interesting viewpoint, that I personally hadn't considered yet.

"With the iStills, and I own an i2000 and an i500, you can mash, ferment, distill any product, any time, in under 8 days in under 250 sf. Traditional equipment? Add a gin still, add a fermenter, add cooling runs, add a boiler, add a mash tun. All-in, the square footage you have to rent to match the versatility of the iStill will run you an additional $1,000/mo, let alone the maintenance and manpower to run a traditional shop vs. iStill. You can redistill vodka with ease, you can made rum, you can make gin, all in the same 250 sf with iStill while your business is growing."

I think Sean is on to something. With iStill technology you can rent a smaller distilling hall. But what do you think?

Sean and Michelle Anger ...

www.iStill.com