- Want to find out more about the trends, challenges and opportunities shaping the drinks market? Book your ticket to Drink Tank here now – the new meeting place for the UK drinks industry on 10 November.
Food and drink brands that were once part of daily life can disappear at the stroke of an accountant’s pen, sat in a distant corporate head office.
I saw this first-hand across a decade working at the world’s biggest drinks company. Brands that don’t fit the ‘corporate footprint’ or ‘global agenda’ receive disproportionately smaller investment, disappear from sales presentations or promotion and, in short, receive no TLC.
People aren’t stupid, these left-behind brands then sell less, which, in turn, leads to even lower investment and a further turn on the downward spiral. At this point, the accountant who led the initial decision feels justified in his initial decision.
Join our WhatsApp channel: The Morning Round-Up
Get the biggest pub trade stories straight to your phone. Listen to our one-minute daily news briefing and receive breaking news, exclusives and sector updates throughout the day. Remember to turn notifications on in the top right corner!
This self-fulfilling prophecy is easy to see in the recent announcement of the closure of Marston’s Brewery by Carlsberg-Britvic. You see, British cask ale was never of interest to global lager producers. Too fiddly and its unique Britishness and freshness means there is no opportunity in foreign markets. Unlike J2O or ubiquitous other Carlsberg brands.
Years of under-investment, site closures and talking down the category leads to falling sales and the justification to bring to a close 200 years of British brewing heritage.
Crucial difference
It’s ironic that when I speak to brewers and beer drinkers from abroad they all want to talk about what they see as unique British brewing heritage and the heart of what makes the British pub the envy of the world.
Without stating the obvious, cask beer is uniquely British and one of the few things sold in a pub you can’t replicate at home.
A friend of mine recently compared the Marston’s announcement to the closure of Cadbury chocolate factory (in Keynsham in 2011) and the loss of a big chunk of Britain’s heritage in confectionary.
Maybe so, but in UK brewing there is a crucial difference. We have 1,500 brewers, each at the very heart of their community, employing local people, paying taxes there and actively supporting suppliers local to their brewery. Each one of them is ready to fill any vacuum left by disinterested global corporations but fear that having lost interest in cask the market opportunity may be closed off.
Most of the indie brewers proudly brew cask at the heart of a wider portfolio and, well before the Marston’s announcement, spoke with pride that their cask volumes have been well ahead of the moribund picture painted by global producers.
Access craved
All independent brewers crave is access to the two thirds of local outlets global brewer ties preclude them from.
Don’t be fooled… the demand for cask beer and the variety and freshness it brings is alive and well among local drinkers for local beers and increasingly among younger drinkers.
As you look down your bar with staple beers from Holland, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Ireland, ask yourself “where’s my local British option?” We have tangible proof that a global + indie beer partnership generates more beer sales overall.
I noticed an advert recently for “Pub quality beer at home”. Here’s a novel thought – how about “Pub quality beer in a pub”?
As we head towards Christmas, I am sure your customers will drink to that.
