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Why the way we speak about beer needs to change
Talk of pricing, and oft-used phrases should be reconsidered for the sector to thrive, brewers have suggested.
Speaking to the drinks business, Suffolk’s Adnams Brewery production director Fergus Fitzgerald said that the phrase “people are drinking less, but better” was an “often-used quote that is at the centre of the challenge”.
The phrase, which is most cited by drinks marketing department heads and drinks analysts when describing trends shaping the sector, has primarily been used to illustrate how in times of austerity consumers tend to reduce their volume consumption, but raise the quality of their order.
Another term, also used in conjunction with other descriptors, includes describing consumers as “weekend millionaires” to illustrate how, during recessions, when people go through a time of reducing their spending they then feel justified in treating themselves to more premium drinks when they do go out.
Fitzgerald pointed out that, while these quotes and comments may exist in research documents, uptalking the cost-of-living crisis by using such phrases is in fact counter-productive for an industry.
Fitzgerald explained: “How well people feel they are doing, and whether they think they can afford to go out, will have a huge bearing on many businesses in the coming months. “
He warned: “As an industry, we need to be careful about talking pricing up too much. The constant talk of £10 pints and a mortgage for a fish and chip supper means that too many people are deciding it’s too expensive to go out before they’ve crossed the threshold.”
In a recent study, Alliance Online discovered the cheapest towns and cities for beer in the UK with much of the research focused on where people could go for not the best beers, but essentially those that would cost the least.
One of the issues this kind of research presents is that if the nation is constantly sold beer on “lowest prices” translating as “best” then it will not consider beers as different or with some deserving of higher price points than others.
Describing how crucial pricing is, Sussex-based Burning Sky founder and head brewer Mark Tranter told db: “All overheads continue to rise but it’s impossible to put our prices up in line with these, without running the risk of pricing ourselves out of the market and or alienating people.”
Looking at the trend and describing what it teaches us, however, Devonshire-based Utopian Brewery owner Richard Archer explained: “High quality beer at good value with interesting flavours and provenance should be playing right into the independent brewers hands, so we should embrace it. Sure, volumes will be lower but frankly that’s more of an issue for AB InBev and Heineken than it is to me.”
Archer told db: “We also need to stay focused on the fact that it is not just about the beer. It is equally important, possibly more important, that we think about the type of venues that those people want to go to. Those same people that are going out less, drinking less alcohol, want to have a really positive experience when they do. So, the venues that we create need to be sympathetic to that.”
Archer insisted: “We need to think hard about what the offer needs to look like on the bar and be a welcoming positive space. Variety and quality will be key.”
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