Commenting on the news that Asahi will close its Greenwich brewery and move all production to Fuller’s Griffin Brewery, CAMRA’s Real Ale, Cider and Perry Campaigns Director, Gillian Hough said:
“Having first moved production of Dark Star from Sussex to the Meantime brewery in Greenwich, it’s a further blow for British brewing to hear that Asahi will now move production of both Dark Star and Meantime to a single site in Chiswick.
“Multinationals constantly seek out the authenticity of smaller brands, whose integrity is tied to their founding, their place of production, and the love and care that comes from a team of skilled brewers. Buying up and consolidating these brands in the name of profit not only strips communities of their brewing heritage, and creates redundancies for the brewers themselves, it often fundamentally destroys what made that beer special in the first place and reduces consumer choice to a meaningless selection between products owned by a single brand.
“CAMRA believes that consumers deserve real choice at the bar, and that small independent breweries should be able to retain their unique character.
“We condemn Asahi’s choice to further consolidate its brands in the strongest possible terms, as well as their decision to announce this while all eyes are on the Spring Budget announcement. With so much at stake for brewers across the UK, Westminster will rightly be where much of the trade’s focus lies today.”
Ends
About CAMRA:
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is a not-for-profit consumer group with over 150,000 members that has been operating since 1971. Our vision is to have quality real ale and thriving pubs in every community.
Media Contact:
CAMRA Press Office:
01727 337863
Third-party news items that are posted on the Guild website’s news section come from press releases received by the Guild. These press releases are posted as they have been received and their publication on the Guild website is intended as an informational service provided to our members and website visitors. As such, the publication of a story from a third-party source is neither an endorsement of the content, nor its sender, by the Guild. For enquiries on any news item, please use the contact details that can be found at the bottom of each post.