What with climate change and all, maybe Britain should rethink its plans to turn the place into a fracking mess by mining natural gas. Just ask the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), which says the workers it represents contribute more to the U.K. economy than the energy sector.
As proof, the SWA offers a study based on work by the London-based Centre for Economic and Business Research. Apparently the Scotch industry generated about $274,000 in economic activity for each of its 42,000 employees last year, versus roughly $226,000 for energy.
The Scotch industry’s total impact on the U.K. economy in 2018 was more than $7.1 billion, the SWA says. Exports—to about 180 countries—clocked in at a record $6.1 billion. As Mark Twain said, too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.
The battle for Seoul
In other good news, the SWA has won a certification trademark for Scotch in South Korea. Now that the Asian nation officially recognizes “Scotch whisky,” Scotland’s national drink will enjoy protection there post-Brexit, the association reckons.
Scotch might need all the help it can get in Korea, where love of a dram ain’t what it used to be, according to Scotchwhisky.com’s Richard Woodard. From Seoul to Changwon, drinkers are switching to vodka and beer. (Just don’t make it a Cass, like Gordon Ramsay. We had a couple in Gangnam that one time, and it was a gas—literally.)
Pernod Ricard knows all too well: the drinks giant recently put its stake in Korea’s Imperial blended Scotch on the block, Pulse notes. Hmm, Scotch, you say? We’ll see about that.