Vocation Brewery has defended its decision to ship beer from the UK to Israel.
The craft brewer was criticised by pro-Palestinian activists online after B7 Beer House, a bar and nano-brewery in Be’er Sheva, southern Israel, announced it had received a shipment of beers from UK breweries Vocation and Vault City on social media.
Posting on Reddit, a member of the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS) said the decision by Vocation to ship beer to Israel meant the brewery and its bars “need to be added to any boycott lists”.
Vocation Brewery had hosted a delegation from Israel at its brewery and was using B7 Beer House “as a base for importing their beverages to Israel”, the BDS activist claimed.
The activist also shared a response they had received from Vocation Brewery. In the message – since verified by The Grocer – Vocation said it would “continue to monitor the UK government’s trading relationship with Israel and any associated guidance from the Department for Business & Trade” when making export decisions.
“Our business exports to many different countries around the world and our aim is to always respect and balance the diversity of views that this involves,” it said. “We take the time to carefully consider various factors, including social, political and economic circumstances, as well as appreciating what matters most to our valued customers.”
Vocation’s export strategy
Vocation Brewery told The Grocer B7 Beer House was owned by an “importer of alcoholic beverages” which was “one of the many different businesses” with which it worked.
“The importer buys and sells a range of beverages from different drinks companies around the world, which they may choose to resell,” a spokeswoman for the brewery said. “We export to them much in the same way as our sales to other businesses internationally.”
Vocation had worked with the Israeli importer “in recent months” and hosted its employees at its brewery in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, “as part of a wider trip”, the spokeswoman confirmed.
“Like many other UK businesses, we export internationally and don’t condone or support any form of inhumane action,” the spokeswoman said, “Exporting to businesses around the globe involves a lot of different considerations and we always take the time to think carefully about varying factors. We will continue to look at how we can make decisions in the best interests of our customers and employees.”
While Vocation Brewery remained “free to sell its beer wherever it wishes”, shoppers were also free to “decide whether it’s a business they want to spend their money with”, beer writer and Pellicle magazine editor Matthew Curtis told The Grocer.
“They’re free to make their decision, but so too are their customers to decide whether they wish to spend support a brewery that is sending product to an apartheid state that supports ethnic cleansing and the mass starvation of civilians, or one of the many other thousands of independent breweries that are not,” he said.
Vault City stops exports to Israel
Vault City, meanwhile, told The Grocer its final shipment to B7 Beer House was made “several months ago” and that it had made the decision to cease exporting to Israel “some time ago”.
“We’ve had no further commercial relationship with that brewery or any other business in Israel since,” a spokesman added.
BDS is a non-violent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel on the basis the Israeli government is engaging in human rights violations in Gaza.
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