World beers

Related tags Pilsner urquell Beer

With the choice of foreign premium brands now available, why not expand your beer offering - and your profits - with a few choice specialities. Kelly...

With the choice of foreign premium brands now available, why not expand your beer offering - and your profits - with a few choice specialities. Kelly Smith reports

When it comes to beer, the world's your oyster. As the imported and speciality sectors buck the trend, we look at how to attract the more discerning drinker.

Current trends show a widening profile of beer drinkers, including women, whose growing thirst for different styles, flavours and experiences is fuelling demand for a broader, more worldly range behind the bar.

Czech lager Pilsner Urquell (imported by Miller Brands) is one brand satisfying this demand. "Imported beer volumes have increased more than 20% in the last three years while the overall market has been quite flat. Consumers want something authentic, something a bit special," says brand manager Lucy Kilborn.

And, as with any well-crafted product, they are willing to pay a premium for it - as long as it is served how it should be. In this case: with a big foamy head, in the right branded glass and with a bit of aplomb.

Ensuring pubs maximise this opportunity, Pilsner Urquell, and other brands such as Stella Artois and Heineken, have invested in programmes teaching the added value of a perfect serve, from specifically-designed glassware and an oversized head - which they believe are crucial to locking in the flavour, fizz and freshness of the beer - to talking up brewing heritage.

"Training is crucial in targeting beer lovers," continues Kilborn. "From research we know that our target customers are more likely to go for a beer that is nicely presented."

Licensee Vit Vintr agrees. "Presentation of the beer is just as important as the product itself. I think of it in the same way as a meal: it looks so good that you have to have it," says Vintr, who saw sales of Pilsner Urquell increase 33% at his freetrade pub, the White Horse Inn in Hendrerwydd, Denbighshire, after introducing the brand's new crystal goblets. "A lot more women have started drinking the beer, too," he adds.

Thirst for knowledge

"Staff in an art gallery know about art and about the works on display so they have the knowledge and confidence to sell them. It should be the same for pubs," says Beer Academy co-founder Rupert Ponsonby.

Discovering the sheer diversity of the world's favourite tipple and getting to know your Bavarian bocks from your Belgian blonds is a good place to start. The Beer Academy's one-day foundation course (£125 plus VAT) is ideal for learning how to taste and recognise different flavours and loading up on knowledgeable banter to woo the beer buffs.

Better still, get staff trained up with a bespoke in-house session (contact the Beer Academy on 0207 499 8144 for more information). Plus there is a half-day course based purely on beer and food matching (£75 plus VAT).

Beers in vogue

Best-selling brands provide a firm base for a successful offer. Figures from CGA Strategy show that in the UK, premium Czech beers Budweiser Budvar and Staropramen, as well as Spanish giant San Miguel, are leading the world draught-lager market.

Meanwhile, Corona Extra (from Mexico, but brewed under licence by Wells & Young's), Tiger (Singapore) and Peroni Nastro Azzurro (Italy) storm ahead in the bottled category.

In the speciality sector, Belgian and wheat-beer styles are staking the biggest claim. InBev's Leffe and Hoegaarden continue to dominate, with German brand Erdinger Weissbier not far behind. The fastest-growing speciality draught brand is Peeterman Artois, the 4% abv beer from InBev. In the bottled beers, Chimay and Duvel look promising.

Even British brewers traditionally known for cask ales are getting in on the act by producing their own authentic Continental-style brews. Liverpool-based Cains has recently launched an organic wheat beer to add to its award-winning list of lagers and seasonal craft beers.

"It's only been out for a couple of weeks but we're talking to a few major retailers," says chief operating officer Ajmail Dusanj.

Among other styles gaining in volume, and providing pubs with a strong point of difference, are "retro beers". Volumes of Artois Bock have quadrupled and newly-launched Budvar Dark is making good headway.

Fruit beer is another. Increased distribution within the last year has propelled Fruli into the (bottled) speciality top 10.

"Fruli Strawberry is growing particularly well within our account base," says Phil Priest, group buyer at Waverley TBS, which has extended its Beers of the World range to include 110 brands.

Look out, too, for other countries coming to the fore. With a stronger abv and generally less gas, Baltic beers (Tyskie, Lech and Okocim to name but a few) are beginning to prove popular with drinkers in general - not just Polish communities.

The most stocked beers

The UK's most distributed draught world and speciality beers, according to CGA Strategy

Top 10 - world

1. San Miguel

2. Staropramen

3. Budweiser Budvar

4. Peroni Nastro Azzurro

5. Kingfisher

6. Warsteiner

7. Bitburger Pils

8. Cobra

9. Kaltenberg Hell