Sunday, January 19, 2014

Globalization Hits Home

Jim Beam… Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey.  It has been made in Kentucky since 1795, for seven generations of the Beam family.


The seven generations are shown here, on the side of the bottle.  



Here is the home of Jim Beam, in Clermont, Kentucky… the American Stillhouse.  


So much for history.  Now Jim Beam has been bought by a Japanese company.  They say it's not unusual in this day and age for a company to go "global" but this just doesn't seem right to me.  I'm not even a bourbon drinker or a native Kentuckian, but it seems that something has been lost.  

4 comments:

Jenn Jilks said...

This is the way things have been going, hasn't it?
So sad.
(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

Anonymous said...

Very much the same here too Judy - much of the time traditional ( as in generational) Australian enterprises and brands sold in take-overs mainly by Chinese and actually American firms...an example being our iconic 'Vegemite'.
Much real estate now in Australia is being purchased by wealthy Chinese, and Chinese companies also own enormous areas of land (farming and mining) a fact well hidden from most Australians, who tend to focus, as always on what's happening on the coastal peripheries.

judy in ky said...

It is the way things have been going, and there is something unsettling about it. I wasn't aware of it happening in Australia, Pam. It makes one wonder what is going to happen to culture and traditions.

Anonymous said...

Judy I had no idea how much has been hidden from the Australian public. Your post encouraged me to do further research and it seems that much of our enterprises are owned by Brazil and Qatar also - a search of "how much land does China own in Australia" is alarming and worth looking at ,and it seems even the government is alarmed as there has been no official recording of the extent of this. We can never get this land back, sold in private deals. It's shocking.
Also found out that only 15% of our supermarket stock is Australian owned. Thanks for making me think a bit more about this and looking into it further.