Inside Track Q&A: West Cork Distillers’ unique products succeeding in US

West Cork Distillers, which is based in the fishing village of Union Hall, was set up by former food scientist John O'Connell and cousins Gerard and Denis McCarthy, who are deep-sea fishermen, in 2008.

Its products, which include Drombeg, Lough Hyne and Kennedy, are exported into 50 markets worldwide. The group employs 20 full-time staff and a further five part-time.

What distinguishes your business from your competitors? Our products are very different from those of our rivals. We put a lot of emphasis on sherry cask maturation while others tend to concentrate more on bourbon or rum cask maturation.

Another distinguishing factor is that we don’t expect to conquer the world immediately with new partners. That’s one of the inherent fears that distribution partners usually have – that the supplier will put undue pressure and expectations on the customer for what is initially an unknown brand – I don’t think we do this.

Above all of those differences though is our geographical location and our approach to business. We put a lot of emphasis on providing an intimate one-to-one service for our customers and this has worked well for us.

What has been the biggest challenge you've had to face? There are a number of challenges which we would share in common with pretty much every other company based in west Cork. The amount of business you have to do in Dublin is one, for example.

The lack of connectivity in and around the M7 is also a problem that most businesses down here have, as is good, reliable internet access. Skype is something that people in Dublin don’t have to think about but it is just not usable in west Cork most of the time.

Outside of that then cashflow is always obviously a big challenge that you have to be cognisant of and manage carefully as a young company.

What has been the biggest mistake you've made in business? I'd say we've probably been guilty of being over-optimistic in terms of business planning in the past. We'd have had maybe 10 projects in the pipeline and would have expected success in maybe seven of those whereas now we're more aware of the fact that if you get four of them off the ground then you're doing well.

What has been your major success to date? Our major success has been sales in the US market. The upsurge in exposure for Irish whiskey as a whole over the past few years has been phenomenal and we've obviously benefited from this. I think our individualistic approach towards working with partners has helped us in the US though as well. We're selling something different from our competitors and our products have been well received there.

What's the best business advice you've ever received? Cost everything twice and be happy to meet half your expectations.

Who do you most admire in business and why? Michael O'Leary would be one and Peter Sutherland would be another. They are both Irish and both have amazing intellectual capabilities. Their vision and strategic view on doing business and their strength of character is something that I'm constantly inspired by.

What piece of advice would you give the Government to help stimulate the economy? I think the Government's attitude towards drink is fundamentally flawed and is costing us jobs and development in the sector. I also believe that the Government should have some sort of relief system in place for supporting small companies in terms of cashflow, and it would be great if they'd examine the possibility of credit insurance in new markets.

Do you think the banks are open for business? Not really. We're still struggling to get finance from the banks and I don't see that changing. On a local level, the banks have been very supportive but there's a level of disenfranchisement at the local level that causes inaction. The intimate relationship you may have once had with your bank manager in the past and their ability to leverage their influence to help local businesses has lessened. All decisions now seem to be done from head office by people who don't necessarily understand you in the way that someone local would.

How do you see the short-term future for your business? The next steps are to continue to try to grow in the US and we're also looking at targeting new markets in South America, Africa and Asia. We do have access to some of those markets at the moment but we see ourselves making greater inroads into them over the next few years.

How much is your business worth and would you sell it? I don't have a clue what it is worth but I certainly wouldn't sell it. The challenge and hard work that it has taken to get to this point wouldn't have been worth it if we were to get out now. We've invested for the long-term in this and we don't see ourselves giving it up for any short-term gains.