ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS IN FOOD, ON THE EXAMPLE OF INVESTMENTS IN WHISKY

The aim of the article is to indicate whether investing in whisky as a form of alternative investment is a viable form of investment and what the determinants of this profitability are. The reason for the research undertaken is an attempt to present the whisky investment market, which has so far been omitted in considerations of alternative investments. The profitability of investment in whisky was analyzed using static and dynamic methods on the basis of data available on the collector’s market. A statistical analysis of the ROI determinant and the period of return on investment in whisky in the indicated market using the r-Pearson and the Spearman ranks was carried out. The analysis covered an eleven-year period (2008–2018). There were 40 selected collector bottles available for purchase at the World Whisky Index, whose purchase prices were announced. The whisky came from 29 distilleries, of which 21 were open and 8 were closed. The influence of the age of whisky on the ROI, whether the distillery from which it came was still functioning and its taste were analyzed. The research revealed that both the age of the whisky and its taste had a marginal impact on the ROI and PP on investment in whisky, which is surprising in a food commodity. The results showed that the factor which most determines the profitability of investment in whisky is the place of origin (the distillery), more precisely whether the factory is still functioning or not.