Bavarian lager brand Hofmeister is betting on consumer demand for “world class beer with a sense of provenance” to help it secure a first major grocery listing.
That’s according to CEO Spencer Chambers, who told The Grocer that after swelling on-trade listings to more than 700 taps, retail expansion was firmly in its sights.
Originally a 3.2% lager brewed in the 1980s and 1990s by Scottish & Newcastle and later Courage, Hofmeister has been reborn as a 5% abv Helles made under Germany purity laws in Bavaria.
Chambers said the priority after relaunching the brand in 2017 had been to “get sips on lips” and change consumer perception of the beer.
“We were obviously very cognisant that the beer is completely different to where it was,” he said. “Everyone will have grown up remembering the old beer so for us it felt like the on-trade was the right place to build it initially.”
Now, with the brand established and a team of 20 full and part-time staff behind it, Chambers said he believed Hofmeister had something unique to offer the off-trade.
“We all see the trends of people wanting to drink better and drink, but drink less,” he said. “Beer is the most commonly drunk alcoholic drink in Britain. So why would you not want to have an opportunity to have a world class one at your home as well?”
He said he saw Hofmeister occupying a new category; one he termed “world craft or world class”. Here, he added, Hofmeister’s authenticity and provenance could shine.
“Craft beer has done a wonderful job in opening people’s minds to the fact that independent brewers using the finest possible ingredients can create some wonderful products,” he said. “Now, I feel there’s an opportunity to start to offer those people world class examples of classic beer styles.”
The Hofmeister boss also hit out at “some of the bigger brands” that have sought to manifest a sense of place without the terroir to back it up.
“If we were to get a similar treatment in any other drinks category… if we thought we were buying a bottle of chablis for £30 and we found out it was it was made in England, we’d be disappointed,” he said.
Hofmeister was “not in discussions currently with any of the last large retailers”, but was building distribution through “wine merchants and bottleshops” in the hope of making grocers sit up and take notice, Chambers said.
“We’d love at some point down the line to find the right parter who sees the opportunity to bring genuine world class lager into people’s homes,” he added.
Earlier this year, Hofmeister brought back its George the Bear mascot in “a grown up, classier, sophisticated” form, taking over Piccadilly Circus in an April campaign with the tagline ‘I’m Back. For Classier Beer, Follow the Bear’.
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