MA Sector Report - Delivering perfection to lager chill seekers

While competition in the lager market has been hotting up, the liquid itself has been getting gradually colder.

Licensees have expressed concern in the past about the extra space taken up by cooling equipment in the back bar, but there does seem to be wider trade acceptance of the concept of extra cold.

Diane Campey, licensee at the Bird in Hand in Garforth, West Yorkshire, has replaced Foster's with the super-chilled version in recent weeks and says the results have been positive. The brand has joined Carling Extra Cold in the pub's draught lager line-up.

"The super chilled has got the larger font with the condensation running down it, and it is very appealing," she says. "I think people really are looking for colder drinks. At first some of the older customers were resistant and said they wanted their old Foster's, but within a couple of days they'd forgotten all about it. People just don't like change."

Carling firm Coors Brewers has been one of the leading champions of the whole extra-cold phenomenon, and has just taken the concept even further with its Colder Quicker Smarter programme.

It has introduced a choice of single and multi-brand "cold beer stations" with condensation effect as standard and a dispense option that delivers a pint in nine seconds, twice as quickly as normal, for high-volume outlets.

It's also added Grolsch to the extra-cold line-up. Marketing director Simon Davies says: "Cold is the most important quality signal to lager drinkers. Yet half of all draught beer in the UK is still served too warm, especially at busy times when cold-beer quality is in greatest demand."

Others agree that the nail is not always hit on the head when it comes to extra-cold delivery.

InBev UK figures suggest that seven out of 10 on-trade outlets fall down on delivering a good head, the right temperature and branded glassware, with the temperature a major fault.

Steve Kitching, managing director for on-trade sales at InBev UK, says: "We believe that it is the visibility of new fonts and the appeal of colder beer that has driven the market, rather than the temperature itself."

Raising visibility on the bar

He adds: "The extra-cold concept isn't really about offering something new because chilled beer has been around for many years. Extra cold has had an impact in raising visibility on the bar, which helps to boost sales though impulse purchase."

Shaun Heyes, head of customer marketing for regions at S&NUK, says: "From our research, we certainly believe that outlets can add about an extra £10,000 of business if they embrace extra cold across their portfolio.

"It comes back to meeting customer needs; the off-trade can't deliver that type of service to consumers."

One of the criticisms of extra cold is that it

fails to actually deliver lager at the temperature brewers intend it to be.

A recent Cask Marque survey showed pubs were falling down on target temperatures for cask ale, and a Morning Advertiser sample of lagers carried out last year also suggested that lagers weren't getting down to the desired mark.

Heyes says: "It's difficult because there are so many things that can influence the temperature. We're confident we've got the best equipment in the marketplace, but we also get our sales people to spend a lot of time helping managers and

owners, and getting them to educate bar staff, to deliver the perfect pint every time."

Nigel McNally, marketing director at Charles Wells, also admits there are issues around extracold dispense.

"Beer really has not been served at that temperature," he says, "so it is new and it is more expensive to provide that, but there's no harm in telling the consumer that you're going to give them something that's better.

"There is though a danger with some of the equipment that's in the trade that, although it chills down your own brand of beer, it can warm up some of the others that are on the bar.

"Licensees have to be very particular about the type of equipment they use - and test all their beers' temperatures

"We're at the very early stages of extra cold, but ultimately it will become the norm and the temperature that everyone expects their lager to be at. We just have to work towards that."

Charles Wells is going down the extra-cold route for some of its beers, but is stopping short of cold branding for Kirin Ichiban, its draught premium lager brewed under licence.

McNally says this is because of Ichiban's "ultra-premium" positioning.

"Although we are delivering extra cold we don't want to call it that because it undermines its premium positioning as the most expensive beer in the world. We're talking about it through PoS but not necessarily on the font.

"It's because Kirin Ichiban is really an under-stated brand. If you look at the font it's very minimalist and to put extra cold on it would take away from that."

Good for a lot of everyday lagers

Shepherd Neame is taking the extra-cold option with its 4.1% abv Oranjeboom brand, but resisting it for the premium Holsten Export.

Chief executive Jonathan Neame says: "I don't think it's inevitable that every brand will go to extra cold. It's good for a lot of everyday lagers, but certain beers don't perform particularly well if they are dispensed at 3°C, because it takes out some of the best flavours. Holsten Export is far better at its traditional temperature of 5°C or 6°C."

He adds: "there are also still economic issues with extra cold, such as the energy costs of running the equipment and the cost of the equipment itself. There are also ealth-and-safety issues because there are more opportunities for bug traps because of the recycling of water."

Neame says that the brand imagery that goes with extra-cold fonts might not be appropriate for more upmarket brands.

He included the brewed-under-licence Asahi - another brand originating in Japan - among these.

He says: "With something like Asahi, the flavour is probably suited to dispense at 3°C but we wouldn't market it as extra cold. It's about getting the balance right."