Beam Inc, owners of the multi-award-winning Kilbeggan and Cooley Irish Whiskey Distilleries, has hired five Irish graduates to promote its Irish whiskey brands in the US. The graduates were selected through the IBEC Export Orientation Programme (EOP).

The graduates, Emily Duffy (Limerick), Joanne Ryan (Waterford), Ruth Dunne, Michael Egan and Jennifer Graham (Dublin), will each be based in one of following five US cities: New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

At the start of August, the graduates will attend an intensive 10-day induction course at the newly established Kilbeggan Institute of Irish Whiskey Excellence at the Kilbeggan Distillery in Co Westmeath.

At Kilbeggan, the graduates will be fully immersed in the whiskey making process and will be tutored on how to market Irish whiskey to an overseas audience. They will work with the Kilbeggan distilling team on every aspect of whiskey production from distillation to maturation, ensuring that they obtain a 360 degree understanding of the products they will be promoting. In addition, they will receive presentation training from UK specialist firm Sustrain UK and will receive whiskey master class training from Beam’s Irish Whiskey Global Brand Ambassador John Cashman.

Beam’s Senior Global Marketing Manager for Irish Whiskey, Stephen Teeling, commented: “These talented graduates will benefit greatly from being exposed to international best practice in export orientated marketing.  They will be supported by Beam’s US marketing and distribution infrastructure as they promote our portfolio of Irish whiskeys in five major cities in the US.

"This programme has huge potential not only for the growth of our business but also for producing highly skilled people who possess the talent and ability to successfully market Irish products overseas. There is scope to roll this programme out across Europe and in other international markets.”