At the 28th Annual Burns Supper held on 25 January 2025 at the Corinthia Hotel we were delighted to announce that the 2024 Sponsor of the Year of the Robert Burns International Foundation was WhiskyNet Kft. We caught up with Katalin Szatmári, Managing Director, to ask her about their relationship with charity and the RBIF.
Can you please introduce your company/organisation and share what inspired you to become involved with the Robert Burns International Foundation as a sponsor?
WhiskyNet was established as a family-owned company in 2007 aiming to educate consumers appreciating not just premium spirits – mainly Scottish whisky at the beginning – but the history and culture behind each brand. We are a premium spirit distributor and brand-building company.
Having had direct contact with more than 30 Scottish whisky and gin brands, and visited 78 Scottish whisky distilleries, we love Scotland and Scottish history, while we were always involved in various civil efforts, sponsorships and charity activities.
At WhiskyNet we believe that supporting meaningful initiatives, like those championed by the Robert Burns International Foundation, is not only a responsibility, but a privilege.
We have been supporting the RBIF since 2010, for exactly 15 years now.
What aspects of the RBIF’s mission and activities resonated most strongly with your company’s values and goals when you made the decision to support us?
First of all, the professionalism and enthusiasm with which the RBIF Team supports and manages its projects resonate with our way of working.
Then of course, supporting children in need, and not “just” in Budapest, but all over Hungary, where the caring attention and help is really needed: that is a goal worth supporting.
Just as our mission is to bring people together through premium beverages, we see the Foundation as a shining example of how collective effort and compassion can transform lives.
How has your partnership with the RBIF and the Sponsor of the Year recognition impacted on your organisation, both internally with your team and externally in your community?
The desire to help, to contribute, comes from within, not in view of receiving an award. Even so, this recognition came as a huge surprise, especially looking at the big, international companies, who have previously deserved this prestigious award.
We would have never thought of standing there once. We can only hope that the way responsible companies and individuals contribute to a better life can be an example for both colleagues, partners and customers.
What advice would you give to other companies or individuals considering sponsorship or charitable giving, particularly regarding choosing organisations to support and measuring impact?
We strongly believe that by helping others we also contribute to our own wellbeing and inner happiness. As a Buddhist saying goes: who deals with oneself has problems, who deals with others has tasks. Sponsoring good causes is a selfish act of your own wellbeing.
Looking ahead, what are your future plans or hopes for continuing your support of RBIF, and are there specific projects or initiatives within RBIF that you are particularly passionate about?
This is a very special time in our private and corporate life as we have just sold the majority shares in WhiskyNet to a much bigger company, who can be fitting custodian for WhiskyNet in its next phase of growth.
We hope the new owners are just as passionate about helping others as we are, and as far as we can see, they are. Since the reasons I outlined above for supporting the RBIF were not personal, but for the good causes and merits of the Foundation, I have every reason to believe that they will continue our path.
For us as individuals, we will definitely keep our close relationship with the RBIF and its wonderful team.
