Distillery owner tells of ‘huge barriers’ faced by black women in business

THE co-founder of a rum distillery in Scotland has criticised the “huge barriers” black women face in business as she launched a drive to help her firm secure the investment it needs to expand.

Jacine Rutasikwa is believed to be the UK’S first black female distillery owner after setting up the Matugga Distillery in Livingston, West Lothian, with her husband Paul.

She has now launched the distillery’s first crowdfunding campaign, with the aim of raising £300,000, which would go towards expanding their team and buying additional equipment for the distillery so it can increase production.

The distillery is operating at “full capacity”, she said, as she revealed the firm plans to become a “cane to cask” producer by establishing its own sugar cane plantation in Uganda – her husband’s home country.

Mrs Rutasikwa, whose grandparents were part of the post-war Windrush generation who migrated from the Caribbean to the UK, said while there were “barriers” to running a conpany as a black woman, they had found a “highly supportive community” in Scotland where, using ingredients from the easterly region of Africa, the firm’s artisan spirits are carefully crafted through small-batch copper pot distillation to capture the “adventurous and unique flavours of Africa”.

The Matugga managing director opened up about the “huge barriers” and “institutional biases” that put obstacles in the way.

She said: “When starting a business, black entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs and, particularly, black female entrepreneurs, face huge barriers, and often struggle to get to the next phase for a number of reasons – whether it’s access to finance, networks, education or mentorship.

“There are still, sadly, systemic inequalities and individual and institutional biases at play.

“But we are lucky that since moving to Scotland we have encountered a highly supportive community who value our craftsmanship and are as excited about our growth plans as we are.”

She continued: “It’s not very often you see black-owned businesses on equity-based crowdfunding platforms and we’re looking forward to launching our campaign to the public. It’s an exciting time for our distillery and we’re inviting rum lovers to back our business and help us take Scottish rum worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Mr Rutasikwa, the head distiller, said the company had “substantial ties to Uganda” and was looking to “support the livelihoods of sugar cane growers in east Africa”.

He said: “With this at the front of our mind, we are developing a sugar cane plantation on our family land in Matugga that will employ and train local agricultural workers.

“By harvesting cane from our land and converting it into high-quality distilling molasses we will become a ‘cane to cask’ rum producer.”