Premier players

Do imported beers form a distinct category? Adam Withrington is sceptical.

Given the recent furore over licensing, smoking and the very significant question of whether or not Becks really did drop his trousers, you may not have noticed the birth of a new beer category.

To be honest I hadn't noticed it either, but according to Czech brewer Budweiser Budvar this new category has arrived and is very real.

The new category is called the "Premier League", and it recognises the growth in popularity of packaged lagers that are premium, authentic and most importantly, brewed at source.

John Harley, chief executive of Budweiser Budvar in the UK, believes these three things are what the British consumer now looks for when buying a product at the bar. "Imported premium packaged lagers (PPLs) offer consumers something extra - authenticity," he says. "For too long consumers have been offered beers masquerading as imported and now they've seen through this. The drinker can relate a product to a country. We are witnessing a quiet revolution with consumers wanting authentic products with a story to tell."

John asserts that there are a group of PPLs that belong in this Premier League, with Budvar at the head of the pack. Other brands include Nastro Azzuro, Peroni and Corona Extra.

What evidence does Budvar have to back these claims up? Martin Curran, chief executive of research company CGA-Centro, which specialises in the UK on-trade, claims that these brewed-at- source beers are the only ones bucking a declining market.

Results from research undertaken by CGA-Centro back up this claim, and according to Martin, the new "Premier League" is nearly the size of the draught cider market, and therefore worthy of recognition.

It is a category that has emerged over time - sales of imported beer have risen consistently over the last 20 years with 3.75 million bottles sold in 2002 compared to only 1.75 million in 1970. And over 30 per cent of pubs in the UK have at least a quarter of their beer shelf space available to "Premier League" brands.

Budvar's claims have support in the trade. Mike Benner, the new chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale, believes in the category - as long as it stays true to its roots: "We like beers that are well made, using time-honoured styles. So we very much support the idea of a new category for imported beers - as long as they stay genuinely authentic."

But does genuine authenticity come at a price? Freshness, not to mention cost, is often cited as the reason for brewing under licence.

Budvar's arch enemy Budweiser, a beer that is brewed under licence in the UK, has launched a successful campaign to promote the freshness of its beer. Now every bottle of Bud has a "born on" date to show when it was packaged.

Budweiser brand manager Tom Shipley says: "Beer tastes best when it is fresh - focus groups are telling us 'we understand beer is better when it's fresh'."

Budvar may also have some trouble selling this idea of a new category to the public. As unfortunate as this may be, surely it is marketing rather than authenticity that governs consumer perception of a brand's heritage?

For example, Asahi is a premium imported beer. People see it as a Japanese beer, intended to be drunk with Japanese or Chinese food. However, it is actually brewed in the Czech Republic. As Michael Caine might say, "not a lot of people know that" - outside the trade at least. Consumers see it as a product from the Far East thanks to successful advertising.

Do consumers really care where a beer comes from? A quick straw poll of opinion of drinkers from Croydon would suggest they don't. Rob Bailey from Croydon said: "Whether a beer is brewed at source or not makes no difference to me. It depends on the taste of the brand itself. There are certain brands out there that taste horrible no matter where they are brewed."

While another drinker, who wished to remain nameless, said: "It has no impact on me really. As beer is so expensive these days people tend to go for stuff that's cheap."

However, John Harley is adamant that the new category has arrived and is here to stay. "I believe that we are looking at the birth of a new category. In supermarkets, whole sections are being reserved for imported premium lagers.

"The person who buys Budvar doesn't do it because we have funny adverts, or because we offer cheap holidays. The Czechs, unlike the Danes, do like to see it leave. Premium imported beers are real and are here to stay."

Package deal​

• The market for on-trade packaged beer stands at 1.9 million barrels a year
• The premium lager figure is 1.4 million barrels
• Imported brands make up about 600,000 barrels
• The "Premier League" is worth at least 150,000
  barrels.

Brewed at source - does it make a difference?​

Brewing at source is a big issue for more brewers than just Budweiser Budvar. Last November Interbrew performed an amazing U-turn over its Staropramen brand. Only months after moving production of the beer from the Czech Republic to Lancashire, Interbrew moved production back to its spiritual home, following consumer criticism.

Is a brand better brewed at source? Since 2003, drinkers in the UK have enjoyed imported Heineken, brewed in Holland, a move away from the brand's previous incarnation as a standard lager brewed in the UK.

Richard Bradbury, on-trade sales director for Heineken, feels that the decision to move brewing operations back to Holland has paid dividends. "We are finding there is a growing interest in imported beer," he says. "In the wine and spirits sectors people are more and more interested in the country of origin of a brand and I think this attitude has moved across to the beer category."

But does that make it better than Grolsch, a well-known premium Dutch lager brand, which just so happens to be brewed in Burton-on-Trent by Coors Brewers rather than in Holland?

According to David Preston, director of marketing of premium brands at Coors Brewers, it makes no difference at all. "We have robust research data that shows that the vast majority of consumers are not interested in the absolute provenance of a beer," he says. "What they are bothered about is the quality of the pint at the point of purchase."