Information For Vendors
Cheddar Ales started winning awards for our beers during our first year of operation and we intend to maintain our own high standards and continue to produce distinguished ales that we consider to be a cut above the competition.
Why Sell Cheddar Ales?
Real ale is a growth product in a shrinking market. Over the past 5 years, growth in sales of real ales has bucked the downturn in overall beer sales (see graphic). The most recent data from SIBA suggests that in 2007, while the overall volume of sales in the beer market shrank by 6%, real ale sales grew by 11%.
Growth in the real ale sector is a result of changing habits and ethics within the food and drinks markets as a whole. Drinkers are becoming more attracted to high-quality, local products with low food miles, made from all-natural ingredients.
Sales from pubs and clubs are bound to falter if the main offerings are cheap, mass -produced beers that are available in supermarkets for a fraction of the price. Ultimately it is this situation that is contributing most heavily to the distressing number of pubs that have been going out of business in recent times.
Even among the real ale producers, there are many that look to compete on price instead of quality, and we feel that this kind of behavior can only cause further damage to the market. The exciting growth in real ale sales is being driven by drinkers looking for quality products. Poor quality offerings will only drive those drinkers away again.
The real ales we produce at Cheddar Ales are a high quality, boutique product with a clear value proposition for drinkers, and that is what will support continued growth in sales for us and for our customers. We would suggest that real ales are coming out of the past and providing a future for pubs and clubs, and are an opportunity not to be missed.
