Opinion: A good brews story

In November 2007 Tesco opened a brand new local store in the Kelham Island area of Sheffield. We were delighted when the store manager approached us before the grand opening and asked if we would be willing to supply them with our award-winning Pale Rider in bottles.

Tesco offered a considerable amount of support and was keen to promote the store as a local shop that stocked local produce. Kelham Island would be championed as one of the local products available. As a result we were one of the main features in the publicity leaflet that advertised its grand opening. This was produced and distributed to thousands of potential customers free of charge.

I went along to the opening of the store and straight away noticed the price of Pale Rider. It was £3.76 per litre (£1.88 a bottle) which made it the most expensive beer per litre on sale. Due to the price and the fact the store was situated on the ground floor of a block of student residences, I resigned myself to the fact that we might not sell a great deal.

When the students realised that Tetley was 35 per cent of our price and Carlsberg was very similar, why would they choose a Kelham Island beer? After all, the accusation is that students and young people are the consumers who buy the cheap beer from the supermarkets. It was a general assumption that they wouldn't go to buy a microbrewery craft beer that could in no way be considered cheap.

So imagine our surprise and delight when Tesco contacted us and told us it was the second-best-selling beer in the store, behind Stella Artois. Due to Pale Rider's considerable success we were then asked to start supplying our other two lines - Easy Rider and Pride of Sheffield. Sales continued to boom and led to other local Tescos such as the Sheffield West Street store approaching us to supply our full range.

The partnership between Tesco and Kelham Island Brewery has been a great success for both parties. Tesco helps promote the product and it is getting the sales volume as a result. We cannot afford the marketing costs that larger companies can and Tesco appreciates this. Economies of scale are unachievable due to our limited output, so even with the high price we only earn a wafer-thin profit. However, the volumes achieved still make it worthwhile.

One can learn two things from this experience. Firstly, quality bottled beer at a reasonable price can sell and does sell in considerable volumes. And secondly, the notion that every student or young consumer wants to purchase the cheapest beer available may simply not be true.

Pale Rider was the Champion Beer of Britain in 2004