London-based brewer and operator Fuller’s has agreed to a three-year contract extension across all of its 160 sites, allowing Vianet to provide “actionable business insight”.
The continuing deal will see Vianet supply “critical” information to Fuller’s in areas including beer quality management and retail performance.
The deal, first revealed to The Morning Advertiser (MA), follows Marston’s announcement last year to pull Vianet’s older Bruline equipment from its 330 leased and tenanted sites.
Beer quality management
In a letter to lessees, seen exclusively by MA in November last year, Marston’s said it had “reviewed the value” of the historic Bruline system and decided to remove it on a phased basis, expecting the process to be completed by 10 January 2018.
Marston’s said its pubs could maintain contracts with Vianet on an individual basis, however, it would be the responsibility of the licensee to do so.
Vianet has worked with Fuller’s for several years. The contract extension will give Fuller’s the ability to “exploit” the data firm’s “next generation technology platform”, including real-time insight into the performance of its draught products.
The monitoring system uses key metrics, including the time between line cleaning, to help operators keep a check on beer quality, sales and service standards.
'Real time insight'
Vianet managing director Steve Alton said: “We recognise that great businesses use real time insight to ensure they know how they are performing and more importantly are able to act before consumers are impacted and profit lost.
“As our customers evolve their commercial models, Vianet is enabling them to drive improvements in retail standards, yields, stock and team performance.”
Of the continuing deal, Fuller’s head of tenanted operations Fred Turner said: “Given our heritage and industry position as both a brewer and premium pub operator, our long-term partnership with Vianet supports Fuller’s continuous focus on product quality and consumer experience – all paramount to our reputation and business success.
“Looking forward, our partnership will build on our previous investment and will create opportunities by site to meet any future evolving requirements.”