Speaking to The Morning Advertiser (The MA), Wilson said fruit beer was no longer a seasonal experiment in pubs and has become a year-round proposition.
He pointed to CGA figures from November last year that showed sales were up 126% year-on-year for Jubel, which was launched by Wilson in 2018.
That growth was also reflected in The MA’s Drinks List, where Jubel featured for the first time last year in the craft beer segment.
It saw volume sales rise 117% alongside a 122.8% uptick in value sales in 2025, making it one of only three brands in the top 10 to record any growth.
Wilson said momentum for Jubel has continued to grow, with distribution currently up about 60% year-on-year and rate of sale up around 34% across 1,500 pubs.
Transforming the industry
“When we first started people thought we were mad scientists... people were really sceptical”, he told The MA.
“I am really proud of us as a team; we have genuinely created something that is really transforming the industry.
“There are lots of people starting to brew with similar propositions and it has been cool to see that ripple effect.”
He compared the position Jubel is carving out in the industry to Guinness, describing the stout brand as the company’s “idol”.
“People are showing strong loyalty to the things they want to drink, which is encouraging for us and good for our pub partners because they are able to sustain demand within a premium proposition and deliver on margins.
“Guinness is much more established than we are but we are starting to see a similar brand status for Jubel; we are a bit of a category of one”, Wilson said.
Though he added rising operational costs had been “savage”, particularly duty changes and inflationary pressures, making it more important than ever for breweries to focus on what they do best.
Future growth
“Guinness does stout better than anyone else, they are the category; we’re never going to try and take them on on their own turf.
“The real focus for us is doing one thing to the absolute best of our ability… it’s not the time to be all things to all people”, he told The MA.
After producing 50,000 hectolitres of Jubel Peach, and 92,000 hectolitres in total, last year for the on-trade, Wilson said the brewery had ambitious plans to double production of its flagship brew this year and continue to cement its footprint in pubs.
This includes partnering with Young’s Pubs later this year to brew an exclusive flavour for the pubco after the success of last year’s Mango variant and the launch of a new bespoke pint glass for the on-trade, which will be distributed next month.
The company is also keen to limit the pressure on its pub customers by avoiding price increases. Wilson added: “In the past eight years, we have only done four price increases.
“We are doing our best to make sure we are supporting an industry that everyone is saying is on its knees and not compounding the problem by whacking on significant price increases.”
