Willing and able
Turning Cains around is no short-term project for its dynamic directors - they are in it for the long haul, as they explain to Andrew Catchpole.
Liverpudlian pride runs deep. It's a place where the locals make it their business to know who is doing what in their city. So it came as little surprise that my cab driver had an opinion on the Dusanj brothers as we approached the Victorian edifice of Cains in Liverpool's infamous suburb of Toxteth.
"They'd be the Asian lads who took over the brewery," he nodded. "They kept people in work and seem to be doing a good job."
It's not a bad testimony coming from a Scouse cabbie. After all, Ajmail and Sudarghara Dusanj are two rank outsiders who waltzed into town a couple of years ago and bought Liverpool's only working brewery for £7.5m.
Buying the brewery
With no experience of brewing, no local knowledge and a background in packaging and wholesale, eyebrows were certainly raised. Undeterred, the Dusanj brothers set about revamping the business, rapidly transforming the £2m a year loss-making business into a profitable operation which doubled its turnover to £30m in 2004. And this turnaround only marks the beginning of their ambitious plans.
The brothers aim to develop Cains into a high profile national brand and have also launched the first ever all British premium lager. They intend to grow this into a top four UK pint.
"We picked up on the sale of Cains in The Times on New Year's Day 2002," says Sudarghara. The paper mentioned that Cains' owner, Danish Brewing Group, had put out a statement to its shareholders in Denmark saying the brewery was to be sold.
"Buying Cains was certainly a challenge, a quantum leap, but we discussed it and thought 'yes, why not, we can do this'," remembers Ajmail. "We were the first to ring and make an appointment when the sale was officially offered that January."
After sealing the deal, the Dusanj brothers wasted little time in making changes at the ailing brewery. David Nigs, an ex-Banks's brewer, was drafted in as head brewer, along with brewers David Edwards and David Moore, respectively from SA Brains in Cardiff and Boddingtons in Manchester.
They set about upping the quality of the hops and barley in the brews, began a subtle redesign of the distinctive logo and livery both of the pump clips and on the range of bottled beers, and began exploiting the 150-year-old regional heritage of Cains with the strapline "Liverpool in a pint". Next came the ambitious part of their project.
"We asked why all the British regional brewers take so much pride in their beers but then undercut themselves by offering foreign lagers brewed under licence alongside the ales in their pubs?" says Sudarghara. "So we decided there was a fantastic opportunity to make a premium quality British lager."
The result is a hoppy, full-flavoured lager, matured (lagered) for three months. The bottled version was launched in summer 2004 with the roll-out of the keg version planned to coincide with the CAMRA Beer Festival in Liverpool this February.
All of this has predictably generated carping about opportunism from rivals, especially among the more traditional quarters of the trade. But the Dusanj brothers make no bones about being businessmen first and foremost. As Ajmail says: "In the 1960s, when the Beatles were around, lager accounted for about one per cent of the market. By 2007 the indications are it will be 75 per cent of the British beer market." The brothers drink very little alcohol so it is unlikely that the purchase of Cains and the launch of the lager are purely for the love of beer.
In the beginning
Ajmail (38) and Sudarghara (39) began their working life in the family fish and chip shop in Chatham, Kent. From there they built up their budding business empire, first expanding the chip shop business, then later moving into the drinks packaging and wholesale business which found them relocating to the Midlands. Now they have enthusiastically adopted Liverpool as their new home town. The acquisition of Cains was not as off-the-wall as it at first might seem. The 10-acre brewery site in Toxteth is close to the centre of this fast regenerating city. With news that Liverpool has won the title European Capital of Culture in 2008, the brewery looks to be an increasingly shrewd investment.
The purchase of Cains also provided ample space for the relocation of the Dusanj brothers' packaging and canning business - they have big contracts with many of the large and medium-sized brewers up and down the country. The mesmerisingly convoluted canning production line in the heart of the brewery is the engine room of their business. However, the Dusanj brothers are at pains to stress their plans for the brewing side of Cains are long term.
"With the packaging and wholesale businesses we were always totally reliant on the contracts of others," says Sudarghara. "Now we have the opportunity to build the Cains brand and have something recognisable that is our own."
Signs of this commitment include the rotating range of seasonal beers, such as the six per cent ABV Cains Victorian Ale out this February, which David Nigs has been encouraged to brew. There has also been growing success in selling Cains beers into top-end local venues. The famous Philharmonic pub and the hip new Hope Street boutique hotel are among those serving Cains bitter and lager on draught, plus 50 Mitchells & Butlers outlets in the North West.
Cains also has 11 of its own pubs in Liverpool and, as finances allow, is hoping to add up to 100 further sites in Merseyside and the North West.
However, the bulk of Cains business remains in the bottled off-sales sector and both Dusanj brothers recognise they have a long way to go in building a nationally recognised brand in the pub trade. And to achieve recognition among their regional brewing peers.
Gaining recognition
Ajmail smiles as he remembers their attempt to join the Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB).
"They said 'you have to be family-owned'. We are. They said 'you have to be independent'. We are. They said 'you have to be a member of the British Beer & Pub Association'. We are. They said 'you have to brew cask ales'. We do. And they still wouldn't let us join," says Ajmail. "They went away and scratched their heads and then Anthony Fuller sent us a letter saying we had to be in the brewing business for at least 10 years."
I, for one, would give good odds that the Dusanj brothers will be knocking on the IFBB's door again early in 2012.
"Building Cains as a brand will take time because we will always keep it a family business - we couldn't bear being answerable to shareholders," says Sudarghara. "And because it is our money we have to make it work."
