Member Article

Marston’s highlight beer growth

Beer firm Marston’s has revealed scope for significant growth, as British bottled ale benefits from shifts in consumer patterns and legislative changes which will further curb larger volumes.

As consumers become more selective in their buying habits, Marston’s have identified a trend which points towards premiumisation of the beer market, with an extra 450,000 new consumers purchasing bottled ales.

The Wolverhampton based firm are hopeful that a real demand for authentic, traditionally produced British beers will provide them with opportunity for growth.

Additional legislative changes have pushed up the price of deeply discounted lager brands, narrowing the price gap and making Premium Bottled Ales more appealing to consumers.

The widely anticipated minimum pricing legislation will accelerate this trend further as 81% of all lager volume is currently sold below the 45p per unit threshold, according to a recent report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

James Coyle, Sales and Marketing Director at Marston’s Beer Company comments: “This accelerated growth is a remarkable performance given the challenging economic backdrop and the highly competitive promotional environment in BWS.

“The opportunity for further growth in British bottled ales should attract more attention and importance, given that £20m of sales are currently being lost due to high out-of-stocks of the leading brands which are responsible for the recruitment of new consumers to the category.

“In the medium term, further legislative changes have the potential to significantly change the landscape of the Take Home beer market forever, with PBA’s well placed to benefit.”

Marston’s suggest that retailers need to begin structural realignment of space from standard lager to premium ale, as ale’s share of the Take Home beer market, currently around three times less than the on-trade-share, will grow significantly when the temptation of discounted big pack lager pricing is removed.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .