Crisp Malt is increasing its support of Scottish farmers and Scottish craft brewers with the opening of a new £2m packaging line in Alloa.
The state-of-the-art facility provides brewers with a new opportunity to buy barley that has been grown, malted and packaged in Scotland. Previously, most Scottish craft brewers were buying malt from England, or using malt that had been produced in Scotland, bagged in England and then trucked back to Scotland.
“The investment comes as a response from brewers for a more sustainable, more Scottish supply chain, and also as part of our endeavours to reduce our carbon footprint,” says Crisp craft brewing and distilling sales manager Colin Johnston.
The Scotland Food & Drink strategic report on the brewing sector set a goal for the sector to reduce its environmental impact, and highlighted a lack of local product in the supply chain. “Our new facility will help address these goals. Bagging Scottish malt in Scotland will save up to 35,000 HGV miles a year*, significantly lowering carbon emissions – as well as supporting breweries with local sourcing.”
The new packaging line is based at Alloa where the company produces almost 30,000 tonnes of malt a year.
Hilary Jones, chair of Scotland Food & Drink’s Brewing Industry Leadership Group, says: “We really welcome this response to one of our recommendations for unblocking barriers to growth for brewers in Scotland. The craft sector in particular has been crying out for Scottish-sourced small batches of malt, in bags rather than through bulk delivery. This is great news.”
The new facility furthers Crisp’s local sourcing policy and its commitment to supporting Scottish farming. All of the barley for its Alloa maltings is sourced from farms within the nearby counties of Fife, Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire and Morayshire.