It seems the new trade buzz-word is 'premiumisation'. My initial reaction is to recoil in horror. Surely not another pub trend to establish more uniformity in the industry at a time when diversity should lead?
The prevailing wisdom is that house brands are now considered naff and the days of cheap offerings are considered over. Wetherspoon, the industry champions of cheap, know full well it is pointless doing cheap if people don't know what they are getting. They, more than most licensees, know that a premium brand sold at a competitive price will give them an edge. Selling obscure brands cheap wins no great following.
I am also coming round to the idea that if people are prepared to step out of their boring and dull existences and enter the pub they probably do so to be seduced by a quality experience. A little luxury. A little entertainment. A little pampering. They aspire to something elegant ~ and that isn't achieved with an own-brand gin and nameless tonic.
Recently I was chatting to a group of licensees from our own brewery. Of the 10 pubs represented there over half of them stocked draught Asahi lager made by Shepherd Neame. This is a premium brand Japanese lager made using rice. Apparently, it has a distinctive clean feel to it. But what is most astonishing is that this is a lager sold at around £3.60 to £4 a pint. Wow! Here we are in economic meltdown with credit crunch, inflation and interest rates all reducing the available spending money ~ and the response is to flog premium lager at top-flight prices. Surely that cannot be right? But it is.
So I find myself re-examining what I am offering. My crisps, Walkers, good though they are, are just too ordinary. Nuts, pork scratchings - they must all be subjected to the quality test. Is there a better one out there? Can I get a better brand? Could a customer ever say "I can get better ones elsewhere"?
But alongside the quality issue is the question of delivery. Can I provide a better product consistently? I need regular deliveries and access to supplies. I've found better products, yes, but delivery every three weeks? That isn't good enough.
Out go my house spirits. Out go second level products. Its got to be top-notch or nothing.
But I'm strangely comforted by those who go against the trend. I love the idea that Samuel Smiths pubs stock nothing but their own brands ~ available nowhere else but their outlets. It has an enchanting feel of stubbornness I can only admire.
Yes, I shall 'premiumise' my offering and ensure the best products available to me are in use. But I have also decided that not everything needs to become uniform.
I have decided it is time to reintroduce some old favourites that decorated bars across the country 30 years ago. I'm talking about the selection of dusty, rarely-used bottles that were found in every pub and have now virtually disappeared - lovage, shrub, pink cloves, peppermint and aniseed.
It's time they made a comeback. I want them to grace my bar and underline my philosophy that, yes, we are embracing the new but, importantly, we have our foundations in the traditional.
It's hardly revolutionary but I think it is right.