Battle for the bar-top

There's more to retailing draught beer than offering just the usual suspects. Try adding some more brands to you bar, says Adam Withrington

You might have noticed going into Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) pubs over the last few years that the number of beer fonts on their bar-tops has increased somewhat.

All Bar One has huge choice on draught, especially with the introduction of speciality beers like Hoegaarden and Leffe, as well as imported lagers like Staropramen.

But some of their pubs are getting an even greater number of fonts on the bar. The Jolly Gardener in Putney, for example, has 19 draught beers.

It seems the company is looking to change the mindset of its managers - to get them to stock 10 lager brands in the way they stock 10 wines. They still have tried and trusted brands like Carling and Stella (in the same way with wine they have pinot grigio or chardonnay) but also have alternatives to allow customers to experiment.

"It is all about increasing the choice and range of draught beers for customers," says Kate Peers, head of communications at M&B. "We are able to offer this kind of choice for wine, spirits and even cask ales, but not for other beers. And for us, our draught range has always been a key focus."

More power to the brands​

Richard Bradbury, on-trade sales director for Heineken - which is listed by M&B - feels this policy really has the potential to improve beer retailing.

"M&B has taken quite a lead in increasing the range of beers on the bar. It has used this as a means to increase choice but also as an effective way of premiumising the way consumers drink beer at the bar," he says.

"The question it has identified is what is the point of just having two standard and two premium beers? They offer very much the same in terms of taste, price point and experience. M&B has seen the growth in speciality and imported beers and said there is an opportunity here."

So is this a policy that all pubs should look to introduce? After all, something needs to be done. On-trade UK beer sales fell by six per cent between 2001 and 2004, according to the British Beer & Pub Association. While overall beer sales are flat, it is the on-trade that is really suffering.

Geoff Brown, director of marketing at Punch Taverns, believes more brands on the bar can inject life back into the on-trade. "I think in so many other aspects of life people expect choice - such as in supermarkets and internet shopping," he says. "The fact is people are now repertoire drinkers and are more prepared to experiment and choose something which will fit the occasion."

He argues that adding one more lager brand to your draught offering will improve sales. "I just feel if you don't make the effort to offer more choice then you are missing a trick.

"Adding just one brand more to your offer will result in increased sales volumes of beer. Our tests have shown this. There may be some cannibalisation but the net benefit is a total increase in volumes and sales."

Even the big brewers, which you might expect to lobby for less competition on the bar top, support the idea of increasing choice. Bill Simcox, director of marketing for Carling, says: "Ultimately the pub companies are going on about choice and quite rightly so."

Steve Kitching, on-trade managing director at InBev, expands on this theme. "There is an opportunity to offer a broader choice by offering different alternatives within established product sectors," he says.

"For example, rather than stocking two or even three mainstream standard lager brands, which are very similar, retailers can look at offering lagers which have similar alcoholic strength but a point of difference."

A forest of fonts​

However, the major brewers see a problem when it comes to number of fonts or "representations" of brands on the bar.

"It can get quite silly when it comes to the question of how many representations of a brand there should be on a bar. It can just become like a forest of fonts," Bill points out.

"Plus some of them are so big that smaller barstaff can't even see the customer they are serving."

Steve agrees. "It's more about getting the right mix of products and brands to provide an element of choice for customers rather than just measuring it by the number of fonts on the bar," he argues.

So what is the answer? Adding greater choice will not work in every single pub - Frank Cobb's comment ,i>(see box below) is testament to that. But you have to ask yourself the question - how do you know what your customer wants until you ask them, or try new products out?

As Richard Bradbury puts it: "Look at the evidence in other categories. A few years ago all bread was about was your standard loaf. Now there are an unknown number of speciality breads on supermarket shelves."

The plethora of cheap flights across Europe means that many of your customers will now be well aware of the speciality beers and imported continental lagers that are now available to you. Be brave and try something new. The bar-top is the equivalent of your shop window. You need to display exciting choice and range to attract customers.

The licensees view​

• Frank Cobb - the Shipwright's, St Austell​

Unless you have a really high lager turnover you can't do it. I've just had to take out Carling because I couldn't sell it. It went OK in the summer, which is why I got it in. The problem is, though, that in Cornwall, Carlsberg is king.

"You have to have a really high turnover to offer a lot of choice. So we were at four lagers and now we are at three. And I think that success is purely down to what area you are in.

"Over the summer I might introduce something new as I am a great believer in sparking things up on the bar top. And you do stand more of a chance of success over the summer."

Mark Dorber - the White Horse, Parson's Green:​

"Increasing the number of brands and fonts on your bar is undoubtedly a way forward. It increases your attractiveness to consumers and is quite liberating. It makes for a healthier and livelier environment. The more choice one offers the more you will appeal to people who don't normally come in through the door.

"My belief is that everyone embraces more choice. But putting Carlsberg in next to Foster's is not necessarily the way to push things forward. Why not put in a Bavarian pilsner? Then you will have done something meaningful - and people love that. And it will make for a stronger category."