Trade battles to polish beer's tarnished reputation

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has launched its long-awaited campaign to improve the image of beer.

Brewers and pub companies want to restore the public's perception of beer after research suggested that one in two pints of beer served in pubs are badly poured.

Wine scores much higher with pub-goers in the quality stakes, according to research, carried out for the BBPA.

As a result the association is pumping £300,000 per year into the generic campaign, which the trade association hopes will "revitalise the image of beer".

"It is about celebrating the quality and variety of beer," said Peter Kendall, chief executive of Coors Brewers and chair of the BBPA Beautiful Beer steering group.

"Beer has been associated with a certain lifestyle and we want to change that. This is just the beginning of a long campaign to change the image of beer in this country."

A series of activities are planned to drive up standards of beer quality in pubs and to educate people about the product, while a PR and marketing campaign will communicate the new image to the public.

Mr Kendall said licensees could add value to their business through "Beautiful Beer". He said: "By increasing the value of a product, it will become a more premium product and will add value to your outlet."

A pilot scheme undertaken by the BBPA and Cask Marque earlier this year saw sales rise three per cent in pubs which had received beer quality training.

The BBPA is hoping to align all the different beer quality and education programmes that presently exist in the industry under the new programme.

The Beer Academy, the BII and Cask Marque are already working together on the new project, while Coors Brewers has agreed to drop its own long-running "Beer Naturally" campaign in favour of "Beautiful Beer".