SIBA vote cannot show the Big Brewers the door

Heineken and Molson Coors are both “associate members” of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), a situation that displeases some of its members.

The Guardian newspaper on 9 October 2017 reported that, in a recent ballot on the issue, members voted 101 to 60 to end the situation, ie to discontinue the Big Brewers’ membership.

However, the motion did not carry because such a change requires a majority of all 861 members to vote in favour, and most did not turn up to do so.

In an apparent hint that the organisation’s policy could be about to change, its membership director, Tony Jerome, said SIBA would “consider new proposals in the near future”.

But even if the Big Brewers were excluded, misgivings will persist. Heineken and Molson, along with AB-InBev and Carlsberg, teamed up with SIBA to provide funding for the “There’s a Beer for That” campaign, an industry-wide promotional initiative, which was launched in 2014.

Craft beer aficionados have good reason to mistrust major brewers, says The Guardian. Heineken is persona non grata among some pub owners after its deal to buy thousands of pubs via a takeover of Punch Taverns, a deal many fear will lead to less choice at the bar.

Alas, SIBA is not alone in hosting unlikely bedfellows. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) accepted sponsorship for its 2017 Great British Beer Festival from the delivery company and online beer retailer Beer Hawk.

A conflict was not apparent until it became clear that Beer Hawk had been acquired by ZX Ventures, which in turn is owned by AB-InBev.

Incidentally, CAMRA’s members are entitled to a ten percent discount on all the beers on Beer Hawk’s website.