Brits still prepared to splash out on high-end beers says SABMiller
How they are doing it, no one really knows, but even in hard times British consumers keep on buying high end beers. SABMiller announced on 22 November 2012 that its UK subsidiary, Miller Brands UK, has delivered another strong period of lager volume growth during its first half year ending 30 September 2012.
Against the backdrop of a declining UK beer market (total beer volumes fell by 4.6 percent to the end of September), Miller Brands UK grew volumes by 5 percent in the half with the performance being led by strong sales of Peroni Nastro Azzurro.
Pub groups meanwhile continue to suffer as cash-strapped drinkers migrate to cheaper supermarket deals. But sales of Peroni on tap increased by more than 10 percent as those who still frequent pubs show no qualms about forking out GBP 5.0 (USD 8.0) or more for a pint.
Other big sellers included Pilsner Urquell, which grew by double digits, according to SABMiller. And the firm more than doubled sales of Kozel, a Czech pilsner launched in 2010 and available on draught only in the UK.
Like its competitors, SABMiller had to contend with a miserable English summer and the "hospitality week from hell" as Londoners and commuters were urged by London’s mayor Boris Johnson to work from home during the first week of the Olympics and pubs stayed empty.
Miller Brands Managing Director, Gary Haigh was quoted as saying that "it’s been the year to remember for all the wrong reasons for the industry – fortunately we managed to buck the trend."
SABMiller, which does not have a brewery in the UK, understandably feels quite smug.
Its rival AB-InBev reported that in the UK its beer volumes decreased by 6.3 percent in the July to September quarter and by 8.7 percent in the nine months of 2012. That's probably more than Molson Coors lost in sales. Molson Coors said that its sales-to-retailers dropped 4.8 percent in the quarter while Heineken merely admitted a low single digits fall. Carlsberg refrained from releasing any specifics as to its performance in the UK.
