JOHN MALONE — SUPPORTING OUR OWN BRANDS...

We had a chat with John Malone, Head of Internal Sales & Engagement who spoke to us about the importance of supporting pubs with their ranging on the bar...

John, can you tell us how the Cask Ale guidance supports our pubs?

This is a recommendation which enables pubs to demonstrate a passion for Greene King and Belhaven beers, drive market outperformance, and ultimately deliver more volume for our breweries.

Why did GK Pubs need our support with the ranging guidance?

There was a need for more guidance and to consider our different formats and the different needs. We hadn't changed things for a while and the ranging guidance was the same across every Greene King format. We wanted to engage teams better with pubs getting clearer direction on what to have on their bars whilst understanding they have a good degree of flexibility.

What were the key opportunities with working with our pubs on their ranging?

The main opportunity was to ensure the optimum number of Greene King and Belhaven beers on our bars, ensuring the right mix of our beers and other brands that guests want to see. This meant moving from two sticks to three in some pubs, while in others we remained unchanged. We were also able to re communicate to all sites so pubs were clear on what the right range looks like for them.

Did all the work on our ranging recommendations lead to success in 2023?

Yes it did. The work was a great opportunity to engage teams and to delight our customers and we know it was a key driver in seeing our OBV and cask volume growing significantly. The second half of the year saw our OBV cask up by 1,453 barrels vs the same period in 2022 – that’s over 418,000 more pints! This year we are aiming for even more engagement and we are looking forward to collaborating with our pub teams to achieve this

Our unfied focus on range, brand advocacy, presentation and cellar practice delivered significant improvement in OBV and total cask sales, cask yield and beer quality worth over £1m in profit for the group in 2023.

But there is still work to do…