MCI Malt Group buy Interest List

[Ciderhead]

HBW now would be taking the ...

[brenmurph]

actually Im wondering why they dont buy and retail MCI malt and keep something in Ireland. Anyone find anything wrong with irish grown and malted barley? Shocking amount of improted barley coming into Ireland. very good friend of mine is a major supplier of batrley to Minch in Athy. Grown in athy and malted in Athy 10 minutes up the road.

They wont sell us small amounts e.g 1 tonne which is a shame while we  import bairds and others of possibly lesser quality than the grain produced on our doorstep.

Love to Know if the Irish retailers of Homebrew will / would sell irish malted grain? from either minch athy or MCI cork?

[Ciderhead]

Tbh Bren, I'm not sure the margin would be in it for them v's scale economics of UK producers

[Eoin]

Wasn't one of them approaching MCI? Or did I dream that?

Sent from my HTC One

[brenmurph]

@ CH.  Find that hard to believe the new dutch crowd that owns Minch are one of the biggest producers in europe and the grain is goin in to the maltings at peanut prices we are paying 1.50 a kilo and the farmer is gettin 5 cent or thereabouts so there tons of room for dealing with Irish maltsters im sure of that. . and add 150 at  sterling for shipping per pallet thats another few quid a bag bargaining power

[brenmurph]

and btw,
if we  as a small purchaser of a pallet now and then can buy at 20 quid for 25 kg of malt and the home brew suppliers are sellin for 35 surely theres something wrong, are they not happy with 17 quid profit +

SURELY

[Ciderhead]

The advantage uk Maltsters have are the massive grain farms from the wash down to Portsmouth supplying them, the scale and tonnage they process, eg the one that begins with b is 8 times bigger than cork and critically and this is the major difference their energy costs
They issue the farmers with the seed and pay them minimum fees for the harvest subject to quality
On the logistics a 1mt pallet is 55 to bring in from the Uk on a full truck

Same system operates here but much smaller scale and although product quality is better economics are not.
Warm feeling for Irish grain is great, and that's why MCI will do really well in the US Homebrew market with their new bagging line.
At present supplying 2 major converters doesn't pay the bills for the volume they produce and MCI in my books are taking the correct approach and differentiating themselves with above median pricing but better quality which will be better for Micros and Homebrewers.

Retail grain currently in HBC is 33 and those sorts of margins are pretty normal for retail.

[brenmurph]

U MISSED THE POINT TUBE
I know how to run a business and all that goes with it.

Cider said uk producers are too big to compete with. one of the biggest producers in europe is on my doorstep and our barley is at the very least as good as any other in the world.

Leaving aside that the HB shops are in business and have a mark up to cover costs, wages and profit for the business My point is how can the Irish HB shops not afford to buy Irish. Forget the costs and vat.

retail say 35 a bag for standard malt in HB shop. ( im in no way saying they are charging too much)

20 quid  retail we can buy from MCI I had a quote from Minch not long back a riduculously low bulk price but we have to buy min 5 tonne on a loose truck load.

So unless the HB shops are buyin for 8-10 euros a bag in UK they can easily Buy irish which was my point. And if anyone takes the initiave and talks about 5- 10 tonne loads we would be using Irish malt that is costing less than 50 cent a kg inc VAT

[Parrot]

@Parrot, you've just removed yourself from the list.

That I did

P

[brenmurph]

agree cider, I am very familiar with the maltings workings from the farmer to the malting gate.

MCI are small Minch are not.
Its crazy, I was just tallking to My mate ( very big Athy grain  farmer). He has been supplying Hundreds of tonnes 2013 for  scottish distileries maltings as well as minch in athy.
And we are buyin in english stuff... I just think it dosnt make environmental sense that so much toing and froing.. be lovely to see us and all the Craft brewers ( u see my point isnt about our measly few homebrew tonnes) start using Irish malt.. Im aware some do and many dont

[brenmurph]

well fair Flecks to MCI wen dey get goin, hope they make a fortune from their bagging lines I for one will be buying our own malt if and when I can.

[Ciderhead]

You are now #2 in the queue 

[Hop Bomb]

There are two very simple reasons: 25Kg bags and they'll mill the malt aswell.

Yip. Not everyone has a silo or a mill.