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Why small independent breweries deserve better presence in pubs
The question of whether independent breweries have enough presence in pubs was brought into focus this week by voices from across the sector.
Speaking to the drinks business, Adnams Brewery production director Fergus Fitzgerald said: “There is a growing need to address the lack of access to the keg taps in pubs” and insisted that “having cask beer as the only format accessible to the non-multinational brewers is no longer enough.”
The independent brewing sector has been beset by challenges of late, facing pricing hikes, closures, spiralling post-pandemic debts and the fight continues to stay afloat, with the industry doing what it can to garner the attention of government ministers to appeal for fairness.
Utopian Brewery owner Richard Archer admitted that there was a lot to unpack, but explained that, essentially, “it’s about fairness in access to market, access to funding and a fairer taxation system to further improve the pricing discrepancy that exists between on- and off-trade”.
In so many ways, the overarching issues, according to the sector, are that independent beer businesses are not being given many chances to survive – and, to get through the next year and emerge out the other side, something needs to be done.
Echoing the urgency of the independent sector being supported, CAMRA vice chair Gillian Hough said that the issues affecting the beer industry are multiple, but needed to be addressed. Hough said that the main problems ministers need to reassess lie in “product ties and pub ties keeping independent local brewers out of pubs, [and] deep discount deals keeping independent brewers out of supermarkets”.
Hough told db that the average consumer has had to become more shrewd in their judgement as a result, since so much of what the big beer producers were getting places to stock was trend-chasing beer that was masquerading as something it was not.
She explained: “If you go into a UK supermarket, you will see wines priced at anything from £4 to £20, sometimes even £40 a bottle. Meanwhile, beer has to be £4 a pint max. And, when someone does dare to try to charge £6 for a beer, you find it is an industrial lager dressed up to be something from Polynesia with a twist of lychee.”
Agreeing with the issues raised, Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) head of comms and marketing Neil Walker said that more fairness and transparency over pub company deals with macro beer producers was needed. Especially if it was in detriment to the independent sector. Essentially, pinpointing that it was “essential” independent breweries were given the same opportunities and routes to market.
Walker told db: “Making sure pub companies pay a fair price for guest beers, and that small breweries have access to pubs dominated by global brewers, is essential.”
Last month, SIBA amplified this message by launching its Indie Beer campaign to encourage beer drinkers to discover which beers were truly from independent breweries in pubs, bars, and shops rather than make misguided choices.
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