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How to sell craft beer
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elling craft beer is all about information. The more informed a customer is, the more likely they will be to try something new.
Understand each craft beer’s story For Cam Pearce the most important thing is to explain the origins of a beer as well as its features. “At the venue level, explaining in our case the uniqueness of our bottle-fermented beers is important,” he says. “Providing the right product information is very important, especially in the craft segment where consumers are discerning so they’re looking to try things but they’re also looking for information to help make those decisions. So providing information about the beers, their history, how they’re put together, what makes them unique, is especially important in that segment.”
Tastings For venues introducing new craft beer taps, offering tasters is also key to getting people to be more adventurous. “We don’t charge for tasters here,” says Peter Bottcher. “We’re about growing craft beer. We want people to choose craft and the only way they’re going to do that [initially] is by tasting it.” Mark Mead says, “We strategically place the mainstream Lagers behind the growler station, as we always have free tastings – in my experience, if you can get someone to actually stand still and taste a new brew they are far more likely to buy it.” Casual tastings from growler stations and open bottles are important and don’t require the presence of a rep. Beer Cartel (NSW), Plonk (ACT) and Cellarbrations Carlisle (WA) all host beer tasting events to get customers to branch out. Beer Cartel has a tasting room where they run themed events, Plonk runs their Expression Sessions on a regular basis and Cellarbrations Carlisle has their own beer club, Grain Cru.
Events The Lord Nelson (NSW) has Brewer’s Table events for 12-20 people – the $70 a head cost covers a five course meal with beer pairings. Scratch (Qld) does Meet the Brewer events that cater for 50 people at $30 per head and include five beers in the ticket price.
12 Craft Beer Trade Buyers Guide
Beer & Brewer magazine 5th birthday dinner (Archive, Qld) The Albion (NSW) hosts brewers from all around the country with 100 people at about $100. Corey Crooks adds that a lot of these events have brought a lot of wine drinkers into craft beer and change a lot of opinions about what people want to drink with a meal. Beer importers, distributors and brewers are available for in-store events. Craig Jessup organises an in-store tasting in each state for every Friday afternoon. “It works really well – it trains the staff, then the people at the tasting who like it, some of them will buy the beers then and there, others will come back another time and buy them.”
Promotions Try 10 per cent off a mixed 6-pack or 10 bottles of craft beer for starters or if you install a growler station, institute a sort of happy hour on a Friday or Saturday night with a percentage off the retail price for the hour.
Merchandising Craig Jessup recommends that retailers are better off displaying craft beers by brand as, in his experience, dividing them by style is rarely successful. This also keeps each brewery’s packaging together, creating a cohesive fridge display. Conversely, for on-premise locations, Ian Kingham recommends having taps arranged by style. This allows the customer to clearly see what other brands do similar styles to what they are currently drinking, encouraging them to step outside their comfort zone and try a new brand or a slightly different style.