There’s A Beer For That programme director David Cunningham said the campaign has been designed to encourage drinkers to share their beer and food pairings.
He added: “The diversity of beer, with more than 140 styles available, provides great versatility to pair with so many different foods and it is increasingly becoming a drink of choice to accompany meals in pubs and restaurants or at home.
“We want to encourage everyone in the industry to reinforce the message that beer and food are excellent partners through social media and to share their excitement of discovering great matches.
“We are asking all operators to encourage staff and customers to post photos of their brilliant beer and food combinations on social media.”
Rise in beer sales
Cunningham said anyone using @beerforthat and #dinewithbeer when posting food and beer matching photographs will help spread the word and encourage participation.
He said: “[The Twitter handle] @beerforthat will then curate and redistribute the best images with the appropriate permissions and credit to our followers.”
The campaigner predicted sales of beer would increase thanks to customers changing the way they think about it.
He urged those taking part to experiment with different tastes available when matching beer and food.
The #dinewithbeer scheme also includes a series of new videos released by There’s A Beer For That in a bid to provide an overview of a variety of beer styles and illustrating how they bring out the best in food.
Cunningham said: “These films are designed to be short teasers to excite people about the options available and inspire them to try something different at home and in pubs and restaurants."
Greater understanding
He added: “They promote a greater understanding of dining with beer and I look forward to the ongoing discussions they create at home, social media and in the pub.”
There’s A Beer For That is continuing to work with a range of pub companies including Ei, Admiral, Everards, Dorbiere and Fuller’s to promote beer and food through events.
Examples include co-hosting beer clubs where consumers have the chance to have a beer, eat a meal and learn about the pairing.
They can also learn about stand-alone menus highlighting pubs' most popular dishes partnered with beer.
Cunningham explained: “Running beer club events and having stand-alone ‘dine with beer’ menus are a proven way for pubs, bars and restaurants to increase consumer education and engagement as well as sales.
“We are continuing to activate these initiatives with existing and new partners but we always want to work with new partners so I would urge anyone interested to contact us at hello@beerforthat.com.”