More than 90% of British consumers may have been misled by the ‘Mediterranean’ marketing of beers that are actually made in the UK.
In a survey commissioned by Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn, market researchers Opinion Matters asked over 2000 UK Adults about their understanding of several leading lager brands – and found that the vast majority believed that beers marketed using Spanish imagery actually came to the UK from Spain, and thus justified a premium price.
Not for the first time recently, Innis & Gunn founder and master brewer Dougal Sharp has voiced his concern that this Mediterranean marketing trend is reinforcing a consumer perception that Britain can’t make good beer.
The survey he commissioned found that only 27% of British consumers believe that this country produces good beer – a minority which drops to 20% for those under 34.
“When I read the survey results, it did make me feel like I’ve been shouting into an empty keg for the last 20 years – but I won’t stop,” said Sharp.
“Homegrown lager is a movement worth getting behind and It’s time to give the incredible beer being proudly produced right here on our doorstep its time in the sun, as it were.”
Singling out Madri Excepcional, Sharp noted that only 8% of survey respondents were aware that the lager was invented in Burton-on-Trent a few years ago, and is brewed by Molson Coors Brewing Company in the UK.
He questioned whether it was in the UK industry’s long-term interests to rely on such a marketing ‘mirage’ to tempt consumers, rather than asserting its own quality reputation.
“Look, the beers we are talking about here are all great beers from great companies,” he said. “But consumers are drawn in by the image and the promise of continental beer. They end up paying a premium price for them because of that marketing and the image. To me, it feels like a scandal.
“There’s no need to look to the continent for great beer when we’re producing award-winning homegrown lagers across the UK. Our flagship lager recently won gold at the World Beer Awards, and British beers are among the best in the world; there’s so much quality here and consumers should wake up to that.”
To highlight its point, the Scottish brewer recently conducted an experiment at the Teuchters Landing pub in Leith, Edinburgh, where they disguised their own lager with a vaguely Spanish label, and customers were filmed eagerly purchasing it, assuming it was a continental brew. When informed that they were actually drinking a Scottish-made lager, many were shocked.
