Tennessee Craft Spirits

American Whiskey Flows to the Netherlands with Help from SUSTA

In March 2025, Tennessee Craft Spirits exhibited with SUSTA at the Prowein trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany. This was the second year in a row that the Franklin, Tennessee-based export management company exhibited in the SUSTA pavilion at the show. Despite the trade show’s name, Prowein has a hall for distilled spirits and beer, which is where SUSTA’s pavilion is located.

At the show, Tennessee Craft Spirits’ CEO, David Pick, met a Dutch importer who was very interested in importing American whiskey. After the show, Pick went to the Netherlands to visit the importer and further establish a relationship. The result is that four American whiskeys are now being imported into the Netherlands for the first time – Ingram Distillery (Nashville, TN), Southern Collective Spirit Co (Nashville, TN), Leiper’s Fork Distillery (Leiper’s Fork, TN) and Iron Root Republic Distilling (Denison, TX). For three of the four distilleries, it was their first ever export sale. The value of the first shipment was a modest $18,000, but they expect to exceed product sales of $150,000 in the Netherlands during the coming 12 months.

In addition to making the Dutch connection, Pick also made connections with importers in Germany, Poland, Denmark, Italy, the UK, Japan, Ukraine, Israel and Australia.

Pick commented, “Although international trading conditions have been challenging, they are being overcome by the strong and growing interest in premium, craft whiskeys from the South. We have been fortunate to qualify for SUSTA’s solid support, especially as a start-up, and we’re looking forward to a third year in SUSTA’s Prowein pavilion in 2026.”

This success is a result of the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The Market Access Program makes it possible for small businesses to exhibit at major trade shows around the world and make valuable connections.