Earlier this month, trade association The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus) brought its 'House of US Spirits' activation to London. The one-day event, which headed to Paris two days later, provided ten brands and their owners the opportunity to present their wares to an invited audience. Among them was Global Drinks Intel editor Olly Wehring, who seized an opportunity of his own; to sit down with Discus' export promotions manager, Joel Matticks (below).What does your role at Discus entail?Every year, we apply for funding from the US Department of Agriculture to put on pro
‘We’ll deem our work a success if we can start to educate people about US spirits’ – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States’ export promotions manager, Joel Matticks, speaks to Global Drinks Intel
‘The world’s constantly changing, so although there are strategies that have worked in the past, we look at every market through a different lens.’

Earlier this month, trade association The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus) brought its ‘House of US Spirits’ activation to London. The one-day event, which headed to Paris two days later, provided ten brands and their owners the opportunity to present their wares to an invited audience. Among them was Global Drinks Intel editor Olly Wehring, who took an opportunity of his own; to sit down with Discus’ export promotions manager, Joel Matticks.
Olly has been reporting on the beverage industry as a B2B journalist since 2003. He spent 18 years at Just Drinks, 16 of which as managing editor. Since joining Global Drinks Intel in 2022, he's interviewed the CEOs for brand owners including AB InBev, Campari Group, Carlsberg, Heineken and Suntory Global Spirits and has a bulging contacts book from across beverage alcohol worldwide.



