Grolsch puts fast-pour Professional on trial
Coors Brewers is hoping to take Grolsch upmarket with a new continental fast-pour font.
The Grolsch Professional is on test in 100 outlets, including a concentrated circuit of 15 in Edinburgh.
Grolsch brand director Andy Cray admitted that Scotland had become a priority for building Grolsch distribution following the sale of rival Tennent's to Interbrew (InBev), which gave Stella Artois an advantage in that market.
The twin-tapped font has an integrated glass cooler and pours a pint in around 10 seconds, about half the time of the standard pub font.
Grolsch is using the Jenneken barge, moored at East India Dock in London, to train bar staff from the capital on the use of the Professional font, and is sending trainers into outlets.
Plans are being considered to take the barge on tour to Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol and Cardiff for similar training programmes, returning to London in September 2006.
New advertising is being screened for the brand, and redesigned PoS material is also being introduced.
In a separate development, a cold draught version of Grolsch has gone on sale in 60 pubs.
Cray said the test was being branded as Grolsch Extra Cold, but that a number of other names were being evaluated ahead of a possible roll-out. These include Koud, the Dutch word for cold.
Grolsch is also currently testing a sponsorship scheme to encourage more pubs to introduce table service, at locations in London, Birmingham, and Glasgow.
Table staff wages will be paid by the brewer and branded clothing provided, but staff will not be expected to serve only Grolsch or Coors products.
'People stay longer if they have their drinks bought to them,' said Cray. 'It's something a lot of pubs do already but not something suppliers have really invested in.
'We want to make sure we get it right in terms of the equipment, the mechanics and how the staff get paid, and then we may roll it out.
