Make sure your cask is good

The smoking ban has concentrated thinking among pub retailers like nothing else.

For the last two years investment strategies have been torn up and re-forecast as pub companies have had to sign off cheque after cheque for pubs looking to building outdoor areas and awnings as well as installing bigger kitchens to help create a bigger food trade.

However, there are those who believe eyes have been taken off the ball and there are other serious issues which have yet to be addressed.

The Why Handpull? think tank has produced a new piece of research, in conjunction with Brulines, which has established, in its eyes, the need for licensees to take cask ale more seriously, particularly if the smoking ban is to be tackled effectively.

The research shows that pubs that do take cask more seriously will actually benefit from a sales perspective - something any licensee will be looking for after the ban kicks in on July 1 in England and next month in Wales.

"Many in the trade have their heads in the sand over this issue," Justin Adams, managing director of Greene King Brewing Company, told The Publican last week.

"Sticking plaster solutions, like sticking up a couple of umbrellas outside, are not enough. What is critical is to increase the overall offer in the pub and cask beer plays a critical role in that."

The research picked out some fascinating insights - for example, pubs that had Cask Marque accreditation sold 20 per cent more beer in total than pubs that didn't - so as Justin puts it, "serving cask in your pub does actually pay".

"Cask helps provide a unique offer - you only have to look at the statistics which show that the rate of decline in beers sales is three times greater in pubs that don't offer cask," he says.

Here are the main findings from the research:

1. People who really care for the quality of their beer sell more.​

FACT: A study of 2,400 outlets showed that Cask Marque-accredited outlets sold 20 per cent more beer than non accredited ones.

2. Offering cask ale in your pub pays.​

FACT: In a study of 880 outlets, beer sales of those that offered no cask ale declined by 6.25 per cent. Those that served cask performed over three times better.

But beware, if you don't have the throughputs quality will suffer and so will ongoing sales.

3. As previous Handpull research has shown, tailoring your cask range to your throughputs is critical.​

FACT: Specialist cask players performed best overall, with sales of those offering more than four cask ales growing by 1.8 per cent. However, this requires significant focus and expertise.

FACT: Drinkers expect to buy a quality pint. Too many pubs without the focus, expertise and throughput try to sell too many beers through too many handpulls and therefore too many bad pints that disappoint too many drinkers.

Drinkers have told us they would rather sacrifice an extensive choice of cask beers in order to be guaranteed a great quality, tried and trusted pint every time.

4. Cleaning your lines is worth the hassle.​

FACT: There is a direct correlation between clean lines and volume performance. Pubs cleaning their lines weekly saw a sales growth of almost two per cent. Those only cleaning them quarterly saw a decline of nine per cent.

5. Serving bad pints loses customers from the brand, category and the pub. ​

FACT: Cask Marque-accredited pubs perform significantly better than other pubs on the key dimensions of temperature, appearance, aroma and taste - but even they have some way to go to offer the perfect experience. Temperature is critical in attracting and retaining customers.

87 per cent of Cask Marque outlets passed their mystery drinker visit compared to 47 per cent of the non accredited outlets.What is Why Handpull?

It has now been nine months since the pub trade was introduced to brewing industry think tank Why Handpull? It consists of representatives from Marston's, Greene King, Fuller's, Adnams, Caledonian, Wells & Young's and Everards and is looking to work with consumers and beer industry groups to recommend ways of improving handpulled beer sales. The term 'handpulled beer' came from the group's first piece of consumer research, which showed it was the term that consumers most identified with when it came to cask beer.