Hall & Woodhouse, brewer of Badger Ales, has published the 2013 update of its highly acclaimed Premium Ale Insight Report.
Key findings from the report show that whilst bottled ales have grown significantly in 2012, £1 deals and on-going low price bottle ales may be detrimental to the long-term success of the category as they are not increasing the number of households buying into bottled ales, but purely encouraging existing bottled ale customers to trade down. Ultimately these trends could potentially threaten the very health of the category by encouraging existing bottled ale customers to change their buying behaviour and spend less on their bottled ales.
The report also identifies that the premium canned ale shoppers spend more per annum on alcohol than customers of any other beer, wine and spirit category; an average of £675 each per year, making them increasingly valuable to retailers.
The report covers a wide range of topics including an overview of the premium ale category, a segmentation of canned ale customers and key considerations when stocking regional bottled ales. It is aimed at all retailers in the UK.
Melinda Bowles, Premium Ale Category Manager at Hall & Woodhouse, who is responsible for producing the report, comments: “Again the report has identified a number of interesting findings, for example if ale’s share of beer in off trade matched its current share in on trade the off trade ale category would grow by £386m to be worth almost £900m, and if premium ale household penetration levels were to rise more to those of premium lager, the category would grow by £¼ billion. But we believe the findings regarding the £1 deals are the most concerning. Currently volumes of private label, and on-going low priced bottled ales and sales on £1 deals account for just under 10% of total category volume, but arguably eroded bottled ale category values by £6.2 million in 2012 versus an average bottle price of £1.50.”
This report explores the opportunities within the premium ale category and provides advice on how to develop bottle ale and premium canned ale in store. It is available as a PDF document and can be downloaded from:
http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.
For further information please call Nickie Davies, Positive PR, tel: 01935 389497 or email: nickie@positivepr.co.uk
(056) June 2013
Background information:
Hall & Woodhouse has been brewing in the heart of the Dorset countryside since 1777. As one of the leading independent brewers in the UK, Hall & Woodhouse is well known for its range of award-winning ales brewed under the Badger brand and its network of public houses throughout the South of England. 2012 has been a year of celebration for the company, Head Brewer, Toby Heasman has been awarded Brewer of the Year by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group and Hall & Woodhouse was awarded The Best Tenanted/Lease Pub Company (10-199 pubs) in the Publican Awards. In addition, the company’s new brewhouse was officially opened in June, continuing the legacy and securing the future of brewing in Blandford, Dorset for the next 100 years. The Brewery, which is now managed by the fifth generation of the Woodhouse family, is justifiably proud of the quality of its ales which are brewed with Dorset spring water filtered through the Cretaceous chalk downs and drawn up 120 feet from the Brewery’s own wells.
Nickie Davies
Positive PR
Tel: 01935 389497
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