Asda says it is responding to growing demand for local beers with the national launch of a scheme supplying stores with products from microbrewers.
The launch follows a successful trial of the Yorkshire’s Best initiative at outlets in the north-west, where locally sourced beers frequently outperformed national brands.
Asda has identified a dozen brewers, including Hogs Back in Surrey, Bryson’s in Lancashire and Darwin Brewery in Sunderland, and plans to exploit local knowledge among staff and customers to put more local bottled beers on the shelves.
They will be ordered through the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) and supplied by brewers to stores in their area.
Asda beer buyer Ged Futter
said: “People go into their local pub and see guest beers on offer, and are demanding the same from their supermarket. People are drinking more at home, and the demand for local beers is growing.”
Futter said decisions about which beers to stock would not be made by bosses “sitting at HQ” but in liaison with employees who had better knowledge about what customers wanted.
He stressed: “We are not looking at a commodity product, it has to work for both parties. We are not looking to squeeze every penny out of the brewers.”
Asda is to run its beer competition for a second year after impressive sales from last year’s winner, Doubleheader, a bottled conditioned beer produced by RCH brewery in Weston-super-Mare.
Four winners will be chosen on July 2 and the beers will be trialled in stores for a few weeks. The bestseller will win a national listing, with scope for other good performers to become a permanent fixture.a
Claire Hu
The launch follows a successful trial of the Yorkshire’s Best initiative at outlets in the north-west, where locally sourced beers frequently outperformed national brands.
Asda has identified a dozen brewers, including Hogs Back in Surrey, Bryson’s in Lancashire and Darwin Brewery in Sunderland, and plans to exploit local knowledge among staff and customers to put more local bottled beers on the shelves.
They will be ordered through the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) and supplied by brewers to stores in their area.
Asda beer buyer Ged Futter
said: “People go into their local pub and see guest beers on offer, and are demanding the same from their supermarket. People are drinking more at home, and the demand for local beers is growing.”
Futter said decisions about which beers to stock would not be made by bosses “sitting at HQ” but in liaison with employees who had better knowledge about what customers wanted.
He stressed: “We are not looking at a commodity product, it has to work for both parties. We are not looking to squeeze every penny out of the brewers.”
Asda is to run its beer competition for a second year after impressive sales from last year’s winner, Doubleheader, a bottled conditioned beer produced by RCH brewery in Weston-super-Mare.
Four winners will be chosen on July 2 and the beers will be trialled in stores for a few weeks. The bestseller will win a national listing, with scope for other good performers to become a permanent fixture.a
Claire Hu
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