Cask beer: the pub trade's saviour
Cask beer is in such growth that it offers a lifeline during the pub trade's present struggles, according to a major new report.
With cask sales growing one per cent over the last year despite a declining beer market, and the category proving to drive big-spending consumers into the pub, The Cask Report: Britain's National Drink says it has become highly profitable for the on-trade.
This is the third version of the report (formerly known as The Intelligent Choice), backed by brewers and brewing trade bodies, and based on data from sources including Nielsen, CGA Strategy, CAPI and TGI.
There are booming numbers of cask drinkers to which pubs can appeal. Cask attracted 400,000 new drinkers in 2008, the number of cask drinkers aged under 35 has grown from 1.6 to 1.7 million and 30 per cent of women have now tried cask ale, up from 16 per cent a year ago.
Typically, these drinkers are more affluent and therefore less affected by the recession than other beer drinkers.
Forty per cent of them visit a pub at least once a week, compared to just 23 per cent of non-cask drinkers. Forty six per cent of them earn above the national family average of £30,000, compared to 33 per cent of non-cask drinkers.
Cask ale drinkers are also less concerned about the recession, 74 per cent of them saying they are 'comfortable' or 'coping' financially, compared to 63 per cent of other beer drinkers.
The Cask Report also attributes success to what it calls the "cask value chain". Cask ale is viewed by many drinkers, it says, as an indicator of a pub's overall standards. Keeping cask in good condition requires care and attention, so the licensee must also know what he's doing with other drinks, food and service in the pub. So, serving good cask ale is likely to increase sales of other products too.
Report author and Publican columnist Pete Brown said: "Higher-spending customers who drink more beer, go to pubs more often and spend more while they're there, make cask beer a vital asset for struggling pubs. Sure, it's not right for every single pub, but for those that can keep and serve it well, and attract the right customers, cask beer can help to lift them out of the trading downturn."
The full report is available at www.caskreport.co.uk
