Molson Coors and Heineken UK focusing on consistent beer delivery
TWO of the country’s biggest brewers are working on campaigns to improve the draught delivery of their products in bars around the country.
Heineken UK, whose portfolio includes Foster’s, John Smith’s and Kronenbourg 1664, has designed a smartphone app which allows the brewer’s staff to assess product quality in outlets and pinpoint problems.
Pints are scored at the bar on a range of criteria and if they fail to reach the desired level a visit from the firm’s technical team is automatically triggered.
The app is part of Heineken’s ongoing Glass Act programme, which is designed to improve product presentation in the on-trade through the use of quality glassware.
Licensees who have taken the Glass Act course, now accredited by the BII and Beautiful Beer, have since reported increases in beer sales in the order of 3% to 30%.
“We’re doing a lot of work around making beer more attractive, including investment in glassware,” said John Gemmell, Heineken’s trading director north. “Internally we’ve launched a website and app called Glass Act, which allows us to score product quality via smartphones.
“If it fails to hit a certain score, it will trigger a technical support call.
“The spirits industry invests a huge amount in training and we have to compete.”
Rival brewer Molson Coors has also been focusing on product quality through its Pint Right programme.
Coors said research suggests pubs and clubs where staff have taken part in the ‘cellar to glass’ training scheme, which has been running since March last year, have seen sales rise by 7%.
But its head of strategy and marketing operations in Scotland, David White, said the standard of
beer served across the trade is still “mixed”.
“When people go to their local or visit a pub for a sporting event, one of the things we have to get right, time after time, is the ‘repeatability’ of a perfect pint,” he told SLTN.
“Whether it’s Carling or one of our
The spirits industry invests a huge amount in training and we have to compete.
newer brands like Blue Moon, the way a beer is served – within the right glass, the right temperature with the right head – is important for all of our customers and beer drinkers as well.
“It adds to the experience and theatre around having a beer.”
