Launched in May 1990 as a one-off brew to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and raise funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund (RAFBF), an estimated 250m pints of Spitfire have been sold to date.
The new logo received its first public airing this week at Spitfire St Lawrence Ground Canterbury home to Kent County Cricket Club and its T20 side Kent Spitfires, which will sport the new logo on its kit from July onwards.
According to Shepherd Neame, the rebrand captures “the brand journey in the outline of the Spitfire soaring through the heart of the logo, its upward trajectory mirrored in the dramatic curve of the label”.
“Spitfire is a genuinely classic British brand and with such an iconic name, the new design encapsulates its spirit perfectly,” Spitfire brand manager Will Upfield explained.
“I’m really pleased to share the new logo and look forward to the roll out of the entire brand family this summer.”
The amber ale, which has enjoyed Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status since 2007 – the same protected status enjoyed by Champagne – and was awarded a Royal Warrant from HRH the Prince of Wales in August 2014, will see its dynamic new branding rolled out in full this summer.
To date, more than £350,000 has been raised for the RAFBF through a combination of Spitfire sales, campaigns and sponsorship events, with the Amber Ale continuing to support the charity and a licensed partner of the RAF.
The Spitfire revamp comes around two-and-a-half years after the brewer unveiled new branding as part of a corporate rebrand in September 2016.
The operator of 321 pubs across Kent and the south-east, Shepherd Neame recently unveiled a new Cask Club initiative to modernise the cask offer at participating pubs and also partnered with award-winning Kent microbrewery Rockin Robin in December 2018 to launch its first pub.
