Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland

This article is part of the Spinwatch public health oriented Alcohol Portal project.

The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) is an Irish trade association that represents all sectors of the alcohol industry. The ABFI consists of four sectoral organisations; the Irish Spirits Association, the Irish Brewers Association, the Irish Cider Association, and the Irish Wine Association. These four components of the Irish drinks sector joined forces in 2007 in order to represent the interests of the Irish alcohol industry.

The ABFI is a business sector within the Irish Business and Employers Confederation.

History and background

The ABFI was formed in Ireland to defend the industry form threats to its profitability. These include: taxation and duty levels, ability to freely market alcohol, competitive pricing, environmental commitments to reduce damage that occurs in the production and distribution of alcohol, health and misuse concerns.

Policy positions

The ABFI, like most of the alcohol industry claim that most people drink responsibly with only a minority who abuse alcohol. This minority should be the focus of targeted alcohol control policy and for the ABFI this should include controls to prevent underage drinking, drink driving and excessive consumption in pregnant women.

Adherence to self regulatory codes and a commitment to alcohol education programmes demonstrate that the ABFI policy positions are in line with large alcohol corporations and other industry representatives.

The ABFI claims to have been instrumental in achieving a “common-sense reduction in excise duties for all alcohol categories in Budget 2012”.

The ABFI members support the Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS) and this is a significant exercise in corporate social responsibility for the Irish alcohol industry. (Meas is the Irish word for respect) The ABFI members are contributing 20 million euro via MEAS to fund a Drinkaware campaign to promote responsible drinking.

Affiliations

• Member of European Alcohol and Health Forum
• Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol Society

Members

Beverage Council of Ireland | Britvic Ireland | C and C Group | Campari | Cassidy Wines Ltd | Castle Brand Spirit Group Ltd | Clintock ltd | Cooley Distillery plc | Diageo Ireland Shared Services | Edward Dillon & Co Ltd | Findlater Wine and Spirit Group | First Ireland Spirits Co Ltd | Heineken Ireland Limited | Irish Distillers | Molson Coors Ireland | Richmond Marketing Ltd | Scion Spirits Company Limited | Wild Geese Wines & Spirits ltd | William Grant and Sons Ltd