SIBA members grow volume sales and ramp up investment

The annual Beer Report 2014​, published today (27 February) by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), said its members grew volume sales by roughly 8% in 2013 to 1.55m barrels and brewed close to 10,000 different beers.

SIBA’s brewing membership swelled last year by 11%, taking the total to 723, with the report claiming members created 900 new jobs between them while six in 10 have made significant capital investment in their businesses.

Chief executive Julian Grocock said: “The Beer Report 2014​ should provide the Chancellor with much to cheer, demonstrating as it does the wisdom of his decision this time last year to end the beer-duty escalator.”

That decision, he said, had given members more long-term confidence.

Beer styles​

Golden ale is the most widely brewed beer, with 97% of SIBA members listing one in their portfolio, while 89% brew a traditional bitter and 60% a strong bitter or IPA. Newer styles are making inroads with one in seven now brewing a varietal or green hop beer.

The report shows that SIBA’s direct delivery scheme (DDS) enabled almost three-quarters of its members to deliver beer to around 2,400 pubs and shops belonging to 20 pubcos or off-trade retailers.

However, fewer brewers depend on DDS for sales — only 6% of SIBA total sales went through the scheme last year, with direct sales into freetrade pubs by far the biggest route to market. As pubcos increasingly begin to offer relaxed tie agreements, SIBA said it would explore opportunities to make it easier for its members to put their beers in front of a larger audience.

With the 2014 Budget just weeks away, SIBA has joined industry calls for a freeze on beer duty, and details of the investment by local brewers after last year’s duty cut have been presented as part of its Budget submission.