SIBA conference sees rosy future for real ale
SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, staged its annual conference at Southport last week, on a wave of optimism for the future of real ale.
With the Chancellor's progressive beer duty boost still fresh in their memories, SIBA members were given further encouragement by a string of speakers who pointed the way to exciting growth prospects. Rupert Thompson, chief executive of Refresh and chairman of the Beer Academy, issued a call to find regional local heroes, ale champions who can exploit opportunities in the areas neglected by national brewers. "There are significant opportunities locally to grow distri-bution and volume," said Thompson.
"Brewers should link up with local farmers and food producers to promote their beers; they should sell bottled beer into local hotels and restaurants, even if the volumes are small; they should link with the local mayors and invite them and local bodies to visit the brewery and persuade them to serve local beers at official receptions." Thompson also argued for what he called, in wine speak, a "local terroir" a style of beer that is distinctive purely to that region. He said local and regional brewers should get together to agree a local style that has historical credibility and link up with local producers to promote this style.
All local brewers could then do their own version of the regional beer, but stick to the same basic style rules. In this way, local brewers can establish some beer types that have style guidelines so as to avoid consumer confusion. SIBA commercial director Nick Stafford reinforced the message of optimism for local brewers and pledged to ensure that members obtain the best possible benefits from the new direct-access schemes. Other speakers included Karan Bilimoria, chief executive of Cobra; Bob Jones, campaigning director of Camra; Martin Breading, commercial and marketing director of the Beer Seller; and Andrew Pring, editor of Morning Advertiser.
John Grogan, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, presented the prize for the champion beer to Bruce Littler of Frog Island Brewery for its Frog Island Croak and Stagger.
