A third of pints are served through ‘unclean’ lines

Vianet Insight Report – The Profit Opportunity Through Game Changing Insight​, also estimated the trade loses £593m profit each year through ‘sub-standard’ quality beer.

It revealed that 2% of drinks served don’t make it through the till, due to wastage being poured in the drip trays – equivalent to £230m – and almost one-quarter (22%) of pubs in the UK serve beer at the wrong temperature.

The insight is based on data from more than 250,000 of Vianet’s iDraught devices, which currently track consumer experience on 777m pints of beer each year in UK pubs. The data in the survey has been run from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018.

Let down

Vianet managing director Steve Alton said: “In the pub trade we have really got to get to grips with consistently serving great quality beer and understand the impact this has on individual outlets and across larger pub estates when we don’t.

“If we are serving one in three customers over Christmas with a poor pint, we are letting them down. Christmas is an opportunity to retain loyal customers and grow our customer base by gaining new ones.

“This lack of control in our beer quality when we get busy is having a real knock-on effect, especially when we have a chance to keep that customer way beyond the Christmas frenzy.

“The data we gather from 250,000 devices isn’t wrong and the system is there to help operators get the most from every barrel and keeping the quality right is key to this.”

Attract and retain

He called on operators to ensure beer is served correctly over the next few weeks especially, to ensure drinkers keep coming back.

Alton added: “A customer is not just for Christmas. [The festive season] is a time where we can attract new customers and hold onto them well into the future.

“Retaining high operational standards throughout these busier period is fundamental if we want to reap the benefits of having this captive audience.”