Local brands high on agenda
Roger Protz's perception of "Interbrew's evident lack of interest in cask beer" can't and shouldn't remain unchallenged. ("Beer drinkers the losers in decline of Strangeways", MA 10 October).
As "The World's Local Brewer" one of the four key pillars of Interbrew's strategy is to strengthen and support local brands, and Boddingtons and Draught Bass Ale do remain high on our agenda for future development.
Boddingtons has the support of a £14m marketing programme which, in marketing investment per barrel terms, is significantly higher than the comparable investment on our biggest selling brand Stella Artois.
With Draught Bass we recognise that we have the leading premium ale brand in the UK and, as the UK's biggest exported ale brand, it plays a very important role in Interbrew's global portfolio. It's not a brand which will remain "sidelined and under-promoted" under our stewardship.
Bass has had little attention lavished on it in the past few years, so there is a lot of work to do to turn the brand around, but we are determined to get it back into growth. Plans are being put in place now to start achieving that aim in 2003. Yes, we are moving the brewing and packaging of keg Boddingtons to our breweries in Magor and Preston, but cask Boddingtons will continue to be produced in Manchester which will operate as our centre for cask ale brewing, with the focus very much on the Boddingtons brand.
Having just completed an in-depth analysis of the 17 breweries in Interbrew's Western European network which resulted in the commercial decision to transfer keg production from Manchester we have no intention of closing the Boddingtons Brewery in the wake of that review. Assertions that the brewery will only have one day's work a week are also unfounded the facts are that the current seven-day shift is being consolidated into a Monday-Friday five-day shift from next year.
The fact has to be faced that the demand for cask ale is falling and the decline, contrary to popular myth, is being driven by consumers not brewers. Over the past decade we have sought to stimulate the cask ale market through developments such as Whitbread's Classic Ales range and more recently through the limited-edition Boddingtons Commonwealth Ale. However, cask ale is not in freefall there are cask ale brands which are growing and Bass and Boddingtons should undoubtedly be among them.
As a "global giant" we also stand accused by Roger Protz of thinking "only in terms of big-volume brands aimed at a mass market of less discriminating drinkers". This is a fallacy. In today's market, big brands are important to us as each year the leading brands account for an even bigger share of UK beer sales. But we do not underestimate the role that "niche" brands or speciality beers formerly the domain of beer "connoisseurs" can play in adding a different dimension and attracting new adult drinkers into the beer market.
Our approach to expanding the UK beer market is inclusive, not exclusive. We are seeking to develop brands such as Hoegaarden and Leffe, Draught Bass and Boddingtons, alongside Stella Artois, Murphy's and Castlemaine XXXX.
Stewart Gilliland
Chief Executive
Interbrew UK and Ireland
Hosts facing big squeeze
It has been well recognised that the small rural pub is the centre of the community, and the enthusiasm of the licensee is paramount to its survival and well being. The quality of his products and his interest in his customers and the local community are well noted.
To the landlord, this is not just a job but a way of life. His tie to the brewery on product is well documented, ie, Bass pubs sell Bass beer.
This is no longer true.
The Government, in its wisdom, decided that the breweries had a monopoly and instructed them to sell off most of their pubs. I think their intention was to open up the market to individuals and to make the industry more competitive and open to free trade ie, freehouses.
We now have a handful of very large pubcos that aren't interested in beer, communities or the landlord. Their only interest is cash.
The beer tie is now being used to vastly inflate the price of beer and runaway rents. And the land-lord is now being squeezed to the point where the pride and way of life has gone, and in many cases bankruptcy is now a grim reality.
David Westwood
Federation of Pub Partnerships
The Vine
Sheep Fair Rugeley
Playing with livelihoods
I write in respect of your article of 3 October regarding Mike Wells of the Greyhound Inn at Popes Hill being excluded from this year's Good Beer Guide. He's in good company. My pub, the Willoughby Arms, suffered a similar fate.
We have six permanent micro-brewed ales available at all times, including three from the award-winning Newby Wyke Brewery at the rear of the pub. We've held the Cask Marque for the past two years (financed solely by ourselves). We serve beer in lined glasses and hold two major beer festivals each year plus six mini ones.
Whilst we get terrific support from Camra branches around the country, our own branch did not visit us in the past year, so we got no votes for the guide. This is a fine example of amateurs playing with people's livelihoods.
I have written two letters to What's Brewing which have not been published. They also refuse to publish my adverts as they may be seen to be detrimental to Camra.
There will be many more disgruntled landlords next year if the size of the GBG is reduced even further. Roger Protz states the guide is by far the biggest. Has he not looked at the Good Pub Guide which contains descriptions of more pubs than the GBG.
Surely the aim of Camra is to promote good beer, not to impede publicans trying to earn a living whilst upholding the Camra ideals.
Neil Salisbury
The Willoughby Arms
Station Road, Little Bytham
Grantham
Lincolnshire
