Unique deal will put local beers in off-licences

l The launch of SIBA's Direct Delivery agreement with Thresher's. Left to right are Roger Whiteside, chief executive of Thresher's, Nick Stafford, managing director of SIBA DDS, and Mike Benner, chief executive of CAMRA

April 15, 2007: The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has unveiled a unique and individual supply and merchandising service in support of its new distribution agreement with Thresher, brokered through SIBA’s Direct Delivery Scheme (DDS).

The local ales sector of the beer market has long claimed to be unique, whether through its focus on quality beers through hand crafted brewing, one-off seasonal and innovative ales or dedicated responses to individual customer service requests that larger breweries cannot match. Now this tailored approach to trade management is about to go one step further.

From April 18 Thresher will roll out across 1,800 stores up to four beers per store, delivered directly by breweries within 30 to 40 miles of each outlet from among DDS’s 260 brewers.

In support, SIBA DDS will provide a leaflet unique to each store to promote the launch and offer tasting notes on each store’s individual beer range. The leaflet talks up the benefits of environmental and local economic sustainability of direct delivery by local brewers and will be refreshed if a store’s range changes.

Keith Bott, of Titanic Brewery, said: "We believe this is a first within a major multiple retailer. Not only has Thresher now got a point of difference from most other high street retailers but it is entirely possible you won’t find the same beer offering in any two Threshers.

"Consumers are increasingly on the look-out for individual food and drink products best provided by local producers, such as our brewery, unique to their area and now we’re backing this with totally individual point of sale and merchandising. This service is a great way of demonstrating our flexibility and commitment to helping customers make the most of the booming consumer demand for local beer."

Roger Whiteside, chief executive, Thresher Group, expressed a wish for the number of local beers within each store to grow beyond the initial four. "There is huge demand for local products," he added. "DDS unlocks the opportunity to satisfy that consumer demand and gives Thresher a further point of differentiation within the off-trade.

"Offering quality ales from local brewers with a passion and enthusiasm for beer is a far more interesting proposition than the supermarkets’ use of price-led lager deals."

Mike Benner, chief executive of CAMRA pointed to the explosion in the number of bottled beers available which he estimated at 1,000. He said that spotting the commercial opportunity from localism was a clever move on Thresher’s and SIBA’s part and declared the launch a great step forward for British beer.