£18m to help Orcadian classic Highland Park go global

[John]

HIGHLAND Park, the Edrington Group's award-winning Orkney single malt whisky, is to benefit from an £18 million global investment plan, aimed at doubling annual sales over the next five years.

The investment, which will be spread across key global markets and age variants of the whisky, follows the conclusion of a £750,000 repackaging exercise, the results of which will be unveiled at the industry showcase, Whisky Live, in Glasgow on Friday.

The new bottle and pack will go on sale in major UK supermarkets later this month.

In the most aggressive expansion drive in the brand's 208-year history, Highland Park will be heavily promoted in markets where Edrington has built its distribution network for its other brands, the Famous Grouse and the Macallan single malt.

Jason Craig, global controller at Highland Park, said: "Our plans are ambitious, but we are in a strong position to maximise the potential of the brand for the first time. We have won many prestigious awards in recent times and the re-pack will build upon these achievements."

The brand has just enjoyed its best ever year and sales of Highland Park are outstripping the rest of the single malt category four-fold - with a 17 per cent increase so far this financial year.

Source: The Scotsman Newpaper Online