China’s Tsingtao Brewery Sets its Sights on Irish Whiskey With Blockbuster Partnership

A man walks by a billboard of Tsingtao Beer in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province Thursday, Aug. 01, 2019. (Photo: FeatureChina via AP Images)

Great Northern Distillery has inked an agreement with Tsingtao Brewery to begin producing Irish whiskey for the Chinese market. The partnership will see Ireland’s second-largest distiller join forces with China’s second-largest brewer to bet big on the country’s lucrative foreign spirits category.

The deal, finalized in Dublin on Thursday, has been described as a long-term supply agreement. GND will provide spirits across its full portfolio while providing technical expertise to Tsingtao Brewery as it develops its own Chinese distillery. The companies also plan to roll out a new range of whiskeys designed for Chinese tastes, and have created a specialist blending team that will identify and innovate on local consumer preferences.

The financials of the agreement have yet to be disclosed, though we can safely assume that it sits in the big leagues. Tsingtao controls about 15% of China’s domestic market share and nearly half of the country’s national beer exports, raking in an annual revenue of $4.5 billion.

Great Northern Distillery, meanwhile, was founded in 2015 by John Teeling, the man widely credited with jumpstarting the modern Irish whiskey renaissance. His distillery is the largest independent producer in Ireland specializing specifically in bulk supply.

In a public statement, Teeling described the Tsingtao partnership in lockstep with China’s rapid economic growth.

“This agreement represents a tremendous opportunity to participate in what I believe will be the next great growth market for Irish whiskey,” Teeling remarked. “Over the coming years, perhaps one billion people across Asia will join the middle class. As incomes rise, consumers increasingly seek premium international products and experiences, and Irish whiskey is exceptionally well placed to meet that demand.”

Though foreign spirits account for less than 3% of alcohol consumption in China, the category is conservatively valued at around $2.9 billion, with further growth projected in the years to come. International spirits producers have angled hard at the market, attempting to fill a cognac-sized hole left behind by steep E.U. tariffs imposed in 2024.

Irish whiskey is the heir apparent. Irish whiskey exports to China grew by 247% between 2019 and 2024, driven by a booming middle class and young urban drinkers. During an agri-trade mission in early 2024, Chinese distributors and marketers rubbed shoulders with representatives from Redbreast, Teeling and Dingle Distillery, who said they had “committed considerable resources and investments” in the market.

The push appears to be garnering support from Chinese officials. CGTN Europe, an international news arm operated by the Chinese government, spotlighted the trend in video series published throughout 2024, one segment of which featured an interview with John Teeling himself.