JDW backs world-famous beer festival as headline sponsor

By Nikkie Sutton

- Last updated on GMT

Big pubco on board: JD Wetherspoon will sponsor the Great British Beer Festival in August
Big pubco on board: JD Wetherspoon will sponsor the Great British Beer Festival in August
Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) will be a headline sponsor at the 40th anniversary of the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) this year.

The annual beer festival, which aims to celebrate its anniversary with more than 900 real ales and other craft beers, real ciders and perries will take place at Olympia, west London, from Tuesday 8 to Saturday 12 August. For the first time this year, English wine will also be available.

JDW spokesperson Eddie Gershon said: “JDW is a proud supporter of brewers across the UK and many of its customers are CAMRA members.”

Real ale to your door

GBBF organiser Ian Hill lauded the headline sponsorship from both JDW and BeerHawk, and claimed the two businesses showcase some of the best real ale, cider and perry in the UK.

He said: “JDW has long supported CAMRA’s aims, particularly through its own regular beer festivals and BeerHawk has made it easy to get great real ale delivered to your door.”

Meanwhile, CAMRA announced that Irish beer will be brewed at this year’s GBBF for the first time.

Irish craft brewers will be collaborating at the event, and festival organisers have claimed this is a unique opportunity for the brewers because cask-conditioned real ale is virtually non-existent in Ireland, where the majority of beer is served from a keg.

Calorie information

Earlier this year (March), JDW was the first pub group in the UK to show calorie information on its drinks​ across it menu and website.

The pub group has listed the calories of all of its meals since 2011 and, in 2014, it launched an under-500 calories section.

JDW boss Tim Martin said that after being the first pub company to highlight the number of calories on all of its meals, the logical step was to do the same for all of its drinks.

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