{"id":37516,"date":"2017-07-22T20:51:40","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T02:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=37516"},"modified":"2017-07-23T11:12:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T17:12:13","slug":"edrington-exec-savors-taste-of-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/edrington-exec-savors-taste-of-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"Edrington exec savors taste of giving"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ALAN SMASON, <em>Exclusive to the CCJN<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Growing up in a Conservative Jewish New Jersey household prepared Marc Bromfeld for a number of things. Through his association with his synagogue and participation in the movement&#8217;s United Synagogue Youth (USY), he learned the importance of being ethical in his business and personal pursuits, of being socially responsible and to contribute in a positive way towards charity in the spirit of <em>tikun olom<\/em> (&#8220;repairing the world&#8221;).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_37517\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37517\" class=\"wp-image-37517 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Bromfeld_Annette\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37517\" class=\"wp-image-37517 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Bromfeld_Annette\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_Annette-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-37517\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marc Bromfeld of Edrington greets local Cutty Sark fan Annette Smason at a special party for the label on Thursday, July 20. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>What he could not have expected was just how these invaluable life lessons would become an integral part of his job description as director of corporate affairs and social responsibility of Edrington, the mammoth spirits company whose labels include the noted Scotch single malts The Macallan, Highland Park and Glenrothes, blended Scotch whiskies Cutty Sark and The Famous Grouse as well as Brugal rum and Snow Leopard vodka.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s nice about the ethos of our company (is) we use the phrase: &#8216;Great people. Leading brands. Giving more,'&#8221; Bromfeld said in an interview with the CCJN earlier this week. &#8220;A lot of companies have great people. A lot of companies have good brands, great brands. But the &#8216;giving more&#8217; aspect is truly part of our ethos.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This spirit of giving sprang from the three spinster sisters who along\u00a0 with their other various business interests owned Edrington. Fighting off several hostile takeover attempts they pooled their assets together into the Robertson Trust. While none of the sisters survives to this day, the profits Edrington makes each year is funneled back into the Robertson Trust, which in turn dispenses grants-in-aid to needy charities and causes.<\/p>\n<p>According to Bromfeld, the Robertson Trust is the largest single grant writing body in Scotland, having dispersed more than $231 million since 1971.<\/p>\n<p>Bromfeld was called upon to bestow one of those gifts on Tuesday afternoon, when he presented a check from the privately held company in the amount of $20,000 to the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society (NOCCPS), the parent company of Tales of the Cocktail.<\/p>\n<p>Under the policy of giving outlined by Edrington, there are many ways for employees to dedicate themselves to giving. The first is to give the consumer the very\u00a0 best product. &#8220;For us, the star is in the glass,&#8221; Bromfeld boasts. This translates into ensuring the finest single malt Scotches reach the market.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_37519\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37519\" class=\"wp-image-37519 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Bromfeld_AnnT\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37519\" class=\"wp-image-37519 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Bromfeld_AnnT\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Bromfeld_AnnT-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-37519\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marc Bromfeld presents the Tales of the Cocktail&#8217;s founder Ann Tuernnerman with a $20,000 check. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bromfeld points to the cost of maintaining their own sherry casks that are built to their specifications as just one small point where the company demonstrates their commitment to excellence. &#8220;The sherry casks cost ten times the cost of former Bourbon casks,&#8221; he pointed out. Sherry casks are sometimes used to finish Scotch whisky for a period of a few months after the spirit has reached maturation. Edrington builds the casks, which are then leased to sherry makers in Spain, who return them to Edrington for their own use years later.<\/p>\n<p>Edrington promotes giving among its employees by encouraging their making donations to charity, as many companies do. Where the company diverges from others is in its policies of matching double or triple the fundraising efforts from employees. Additionally employees are oftentimes given time off from the company in order to work for charity.\u00a0 Bromfeld coordinates group activities such as a recent event in Nashville where 90 Edrington employees gathered to improve a schoolyard, erecting signs and making the area clean and safe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can make the correlation to tikun olom, but we are not a religious company,&#8221; he said. That&#8217;s not what it&#8217;s about, but for me personally, I feel good about where I work. We&#8217;re doing good things. It&#8217;s all about responsible consumption.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bromfeld&#8217;s job also has him implement Edrington&#8217;s dedication to Responsibility.org, a website that encourages responsible and positive habits and is administered through the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (FAAR)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;What we&#8217;re all about is eliminating driving while intoxicated, but also educating people about the four Ds,&#8221; which he listed as distracted driving (texting), drinking, drugging and drinking and drousy driving.<\/p>\n<p>As the father of two daughters, Bromfeld feels it is important to walk the walk, especially as he is representative of his industry.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Edrington Americas sets aside one percent of our profits to charities here in the U.S.,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have different people in different divisions around the U.S. and I ask them to nominate charities,&#8221; Bromfeld explained. &#8220;We vet those charities to make sure they are 501c3, but also we are very big on charities that don&#8217;t have very large overheads with big administrative costs or big research area.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This way most of the money goes to where it is needed most, he stated.<\/p>\n<p>One of their pet charities has been Covenant House, which he claimed does &#8220;amazing work&#8221; with young runaways. &#8220;In New York they turn away dozens of kids because they don&#8217;t have the space. That&#8217;s sad,&#8221; he mused.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, according to Bromfeld, homeless teens have had their lives turned around, gaining GEDs and working for Fortune 500 companies within as little a period as two years.\u00a0 &#8220;That&#8217;s a win. That&#8217;s a win,&#8221; Bromfeld concluded.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Edrington%20exec%20savors%20taste%20of%20giving\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8676,8790,8795,8677,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37516"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37524,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37516\/revisions\/37524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}