Organised by The Morning Advertiser, the Beer Summit will be held at the Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, on 12 July.
The day-long event will see leaders from the beer world deliver exciting and informative talks on the sector, as well as delve into current and potential future trends.
Curious Brewery’s managing director Gareth Bath will host the summit, drawing on his years of experience in the brewing industry to challenge perceptions about beer.
In a recent interview about how consumers are buying beer, Bath told MA: “Customers are highly educated and discerning and they know what they want.
“They have that information at their fingertips with their phone and, as a result, we are not seeing consumers having that brand for life in the same way.
'Try new things'
“Although people want to try new things, they still have a favoured area where most of their consumption is, and that is not going to change.”
The agenda for the day includes an overview of the market from CGA, a look at the growth of free-from brews and a discussion about the current state of the mainstream lager category.
Read on to see the full agenda below:
Beer in figures:
In this session, delegates are given an overview of the latest sales, data and trends and potential future trends in beer in the UK on-trade, setting the scene for the rest of the day.
Packaging: the end of the pint?
Which packaging formats are winning in the pub, how can operators take advantage of this, where’s next for packaged beer in the pub and what does it mean for the traditional pint?
The free-from craft beer bar:
The growth of free-from does not appear to be slowing down, so what would a free-from pub actually stock, how big could this trend grow and what’s the value to the pub?
Who is growing the craft segment?
Here, a group of mainstream beer brewers and those close to the brewing industry debate what is growing the craft beer segment – is it smaller craft brewers or the bigger businesses?
The mainstream lager limits:
In this session, the history of mainstream lager segment is discussed, looking at what’s happening next and how the segment can maintain its relevance in a challenging, competitive and changing market.
Beer trend carousel:
Specialist brewers operating in niche and ‘trendy’ segments of the beer category each have five minutes to talk about the beer trends they believe will turn it out in the coming years.
The Americans are coming:
US beer imports to the UK have consistently increased year-on-year, but what’s driving that growth and how big can the US beer market in the UK actually become?
Off-trade v on-trade – who’s winning?
Two buyers from different parts of the market explain their approach to buying and discuss whether the proliferation of beer brands in the off-trade is/could become a threat to pubs and whether the off-trade will ever be a real competitor to the on-trade when it comes to interesting choices.
Book your tickets today by emailing Stevie.Robinson@wrbm.com