89% of people care if Irish drinks are made from Irish ingredients and a whopping 77% would change brands if unsatisfied with the percentage of Irish ingredients in their products, according to AgriLand‘s latest poll.

It seems Irish consumers are concerned about where their ‘few sociables’ come from on a night out and are concerned about the drinks industry’s future.

AgriLand received a huge response to its poll at the weekend – Do you care what ‘Irish’ whiskey or beer is made from?

An important point to start off with is that 50% of the people who took the poll stated they were not farmers.

A total of 18% of people who took the poll were tillage farmers (some of whom produce malting and roasting barley) and 31% were farmers who did not have a tillage enterprise.

Assume that ‘Irish’ means Irish

78% of those surveyed assume that Irish branded whiskey and beer is made from Irish ingredients.

When asked what percentage of the ingredients they assumed are Irish a massive 42% assumed that 75-99% of ingredients were Irish, while 24% assumed 100% of the ingredients were Irish.

15% of those polled assumed that less than 50% of the ingredients in Irish drinks were Irish.

Do you assume that Irish branded whiskey and beer is made from Irish ingredients?
  • Yes – 78%;
  • No – 22%.

If yes, what percentage of that drink do you assume is made from Irish ingredients?
  • 75-99% – 42%;
  • 100% – 24%;
  • 50-74% – 23%;
  • 25-49% – 6%;
  • 5-24% – 3%;
  • Less than 5% – 1%.

They would change brands

85% of those polled stated that they choose Irish drinks brands over others and 77% of people would change brands if they were unsatisfied by the percentage of Irish ingredients in that brand.

This result comes as 89% of participants answered with a yes when asked: “Do you care if these drinks products are made from Irish ingredients?”

Do you choose Irish brands of whiskey or beer over others?
  • Yes – 85%;
  • No – 15%.

Would you change brands if unsatisfied with the percentage of Irish ingredients?
  • Yes – 77%;
  • No – 23%.

Do you care if these drinks products are made from Irish ingredients?
  • Yes – 89%;
  • No – 11%.

Concern for growers

68% of participants in the poll are concerned when malting barley farmers say they need to be paid more for their product.

Does it concern you when malting barley farmers say they need to be paid more for their product?
  • Yes – 68%;
  • No – 32%.

The bottom line

Irish malting barley farmers have stated numerous times over the past decade that if the price of a pint increased by one cent (to support the farmer) it would make a massive difference to their income.

97% of our readers who took the poll are willing to pay that cent.

If the price of a pint of beer or glass of whiskey increased by a cent would you still buy it?
  • Yes – 97%;
  • No – 3%.