A SMALL brewery based on one of Scotland's most famous whisky producing islands has taken its first steps into export markets.
Islay Ales has already struck deals in Switzerland and France which will see a number of its products, which include Angus Og, Finlaggan and Saligo, stocked by outlets there.
In Switzerland one pallet, comprising 900 bottles, has been taken by the Basel-based Paul Ullrich wine and spirits company.
Separately La Maison du Whisky in Paris, which has its own catalogue and distribution network within France, has taken delivery of two pallets of beer.
The company, based near Bridgend on the Hebridean island and which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in business, is also in talks with potential customers in Munich and Hamburg in Germany.
Ishbel Capper, a director at the business along with husband Paul and their friend Walter Schobert, said: "The tourism sector in Islay means we have a lot of people visiting us from other countries and they always ask us if they can buy our beers back home.
"Export was the next step. We hope that they can turn into repeat orders rather than just a one-off idea."
The business has used its links in the whisky trade to make some contacts overseas while Mr Schobert's network in his homeland of Germany has also proved useful.
Mrs Capper suggested that once these initial export contracts are up and running Islay Ales will start to look at other markets, with Sweden of particular interest. She said: "The Swedes love us. Once we have got all of this [going] then perhaps that next."
Mrs Capper indicated the company has also benefited through its participation in providing products for Aldi's Scottish beer festival promotion.
She said: "Normally up until this winter we have had a quiet period from around now until the end of February when our normal pattern of brewing twice a week and bottling and so on just kind of ground to a halt, partly because the market wasn't there locally and then because of that the cash flow goes down. So any plans to build up stock disappeared.
"Already this year with this little bit of export and expansion onto the mainland, orders from Aldi, we have changed that.
"It has put us in a position where we can look forward through this winter to mop up some of that spare capacity."
Turnover for the year to the end of March 2015 has already exceeded the £117,000 recorded in the previous financial year.
Mrs Capper added: "This year we have probably sold 80 per cent of what we have produced either on the island or on the ferries to and from the island. The rest of it is now growing a bit and generating a bit more."
The company, the only brewery on Islay, has added a fourth fermenter in order to give it the option of brewing more than its current twice-weekly run.
Along with that it is in talks with its landlord over reorganising and expanding its current premises.
It is also looking to further enhance its whisky links with a new beer which is being developed with help from Kilchoman distillery.
That will involve using local grist, ground-up grain which then forms the mash when water is added during the whisky making process, as the basis for the product.
Mrs Capper said: "Something which we are hoping to develop and which we think might go well overseas is a smoky, peaty beer made with an Islay grist.
"We think it will be of great interest for this whisky-based export market we are developing."
Closer to home Mrs Capper is also looking to build further links in the independent retail sector on the Scottish mainland, particularly across the central belt.
Islay Ales received a Business Gateway support grant to help staff visit trade shows and develop its export strategy.
It also received backing from Scotland Food and Drink through the Access 6 export initiative.
Business Gateway adviser Donald Melville said: "Our recent work with Islay Ales has concentrated on exporting and helping the company identify funding avenues that could assist their growth aims."
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