Almost a third of brewing industry workers believe premium bottled ales prices will fall in the coming year, according to a new survey.
Of the 82 trade respondents who took part in the survey by Butcombe Brewery, the proportion who said they expected prices to drop in 2015 was 29.6% - up almost tenfold on the 3.5% who said the same thing a year ago. Meanwhile, only 19.8% said they anticipated prices going up, compared with 51.7% last year, and 60.9% the year before.
Although the majority of respondents expected to see similar growth in the category to the 12.8% recorded last year [Nielsen 52 w/e 22 June 2014], the proportion who said they thought sales would remain flat was 14.6% – three times last year’s figure. The number expecting an increase in the space retailers give to premium bottles ales fell from 50% to 37%, and the number expecting a decrease in space rose from 3.5% to 8.6%.
According to Nielsen data, among the brands that fell in average price per litre in 2014 were Old Speckled Hen, Adnam’s Broadside, Marston’s Pedigree and Sharp’s Doom Bar [Nielsen 52w/e 11 October 2014],
The 82 respondents to the Butcombe survey – roughly four-fifths suppliers and the rest in retail and related industries – also gave views on merchandising and product descriptions. As in the previous two surveys, more than half said bottled ale should be merchandised by style, with a significant minority arguing for merchandising by brewery. Almost two thirds said the category should be called Premium Bottle Ale, as opposed to other names including Speciality Ale and British Beer.
Among the factors considered most important to the future of the industry were stocking local or regional ales, multibuy promotions and brewers’ heritage.
On the impact of craft beer, responses were mixed, with some hailing the ability of craft ale to attract new purchasers to the category, and others suggesting it wouldn’t deliver on sales as expected.
“I’m delighted with the high response rate of the survey,” said Butcombe off-trade sales director Martin Holland. “Not only is the quantitative information illuminating but the commentary shows a great passion for the category and high confidence in the sector.”
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