Member Article

Lindisfarne ?Mede? to be sold in US

A famous North East winery has finally won a 40-year fight to sell in the USA. The first consignment of 7,500 bottles of the honey and herb-infused drink has now been shipped across the Atlantic.

Lindisfarne Mead will now be sold in the US, although it must be renamed ‘mede’ to satisfy US officials, who believe that mead is only fermented honey and water - Lindisfarne Mead also contains herbs and grape juice. However, US firms are permitted to use other ingredients and still call their products mead.

Lindsay Hackett from Lindisfarne Ltd, said: “We could have had Lindisfarne Mead but we would have had to put ‘with added grape juice’. To us it’s a bit nonsensical but we said if that’s what we have to do to get into the US we would do it. After months of discussions we decided to use the Anglo-Saxon spelling of ‘mede’ as in Chaucer’s Tales, solely for our US label. “At one point it got ridiculous when we were asked which flower would the bee have sat on to collect the pollen to make the honey we use in our Lindisfarne Mead.”

Brenda Hackett, director of Lindisfarne Ltd, said: “It took two months to get our mead in to Japan, but it has taken four decades to enter the American market. It has taken a lot of hard work but we are finally there.” The company also had to source new bottles and caps because European standard sizes are not accepted in the US, as well as providing plastic pallets because untreated wooden pallets were not permitted.

A number of North East organisations – including the North East Chamber of Commerce, UK Trade & Investment, One NorthEast, Business Link and RTC North – played pivotal roles in breaking down barriers.

John Christal, from the North East Chamber of Commerce’s international trade team, said: “Despite the uniqueness of their product they’ve had many obstacles to overcome to enter a difficult market, determination and resilience are often understated requirements of successful international trade. These two directors of Lindisfarne Winery have shown they have both in abundance, my giving advice was the easy part.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .