BrewDog is pivoting towards lager as it looks to become the fourth-largest brewer in the UK off-trade.
With Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company’s (CMBC’s) bestseller San Miguel set to switch to Budweiser Brewing Group (BBG) in January, there was an opportunity for BrewDog to leapfrog the supplier, group sales director Stuart Harrison told The Grocer.
“When San Miguel comes out [of CMBC] on 1 January that will put BBG well ahead,” he said. “Then you’ve got Heineken in second, Molson [Coors] in third, and then within a few million [pounds] of each other you have Carlsberg, BrewDog, Diageo and Asahi.”
BrewDog is currently the seventh-biggest brewer in the UK off-trade, with sales of £170.6m and a 4.6% share of the total beer category [Circana 52 we 24 July].
In a bid to win the battle for fourth spot, the Scottish brewer would place greater emphasis on lager – which now accounts for 80% of the category by volume [Circana 52 we 29 September] – to appeal to more shoppers, Harrison said.
“Penetration of craft has plateaued,” he said. “There are no new consumers coming into craft. So we have to drive penetration to craft. That is why you will see a lot of focus from us next year on Lost [Lager].”
Lost Lager, first introduced by BrewDog in 2018, would this year overtake Punk IPA to become the brewer’s biggest-selling beer in grocery, accounting for around 22% of its total off-trade volumes, Harrison revealed.
With 30% of Lost Lager shoppers new to the craft beer category, BrewDog would look to leverage the beer to bring drinkers into the BrewDog brand, he added.
“We do see people go into Lost and then come into the craft portfolio because they then trust the BrewDog brand,” he said. “Lost distribution is at around 70% so there is still growth to be had.”
As well as driving sales of Lost Lager via new pack formats and promotions, BrewDog would invest behind its 3.4% abv lager Cold Beer and extend its Wingman sub-brand into lager next year, Harrison said.
Wingman Craft Lager will replace BrewDog’s 2024 seasonal brew Post Punk Tropical IPA in 3,000 grocery distribution points from next spring.
Despite this, Harrison refuted the suggestion BrewDog was now “a lager brewery”, pointing out the majority of its sales by volume and value still came from ales including Punk IPA, Hazy Jane, Wingman Session IPA and Black Heart Stout.
Harrison was speaking to The Grocer as BrewDog was unveiled as the new official beer partner of Lords Cricket Ground.
The four-year partnership with Marylebone Cricket Club kicks off in January next year.
No comments yet