Waitrose new craft beers

And Union: Bavarian brewery’s Unfiltered Lager will retail exclusively through Waitrose

Waitrose is growing its range of craft and speciality beers with the introduction of 25 new brews.

The supermarket has added 12 new canned beers and several products exclusive to Waitrose as a multiple retailer, including Bavarian brewery And Union’s Unfiltered Lager (rsp: £2.19/330ml), which will hit shelves on 1 May.

Other new beers include Wild Beer Co’s 9.0% abv ale Ninkasi (£7.50/75cl); Toast Pale Ale (£3.29/330ml); and Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta Earl Grey IPA (£2.39/330ml).

It comes as the supermarket has reported a 33% rise in speciality beer sales over the past year.

“We are thrilled to be introducing so many new speciality beers to Waitrose customers, which definitely deserve to be put on a national stage,” said Sarah Hammond, Waitrose beer and cider buyer.

“The craft beer movement is all about the rediscovery of old styles, giving them a modern twist and pushing the boundaries. We’ve seen some amazing innovation in the last year.

‘Solid move’

Expanding Waitrose’s craft range was a “solid move” for the retailer, said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.

“The opportunity is there because these beers are managing to sustain price premiums that the lagers cannot get close to, particularly with the history of price promotions in the lager and alcohol category in general,” he said.

“I do think this is in particular a good fit for Waitrose, with their upmarket shopper base. Where the slight tension with Waitrose might come in is that craft beers are traditionally drunk by younger shoppers and Waitrose is not a haven for younger shoppers.”

A continuation of this trend would likely be seen in other supermarkets, he added.

Total UK craft beer sales rose 87% year on year over the past 12 months, with category value rising from £53.9m to £100.5m. Its share of total beer sales rose from 1.4% the previous period to 2.6% [Nielsen 52 w/e 25 March 2017].

Mainstream lager is in slight decline (-0.4% value), its share of the total beer market having dropped from 79.8% to 77.8% over the last year [Nielsen].

“We’ve possible been a little cautious in the past about how much growth there’s been in craft beer, as the latest figures have out-performed our expectations,” said Helen Stares, client business partner at Nielsen.

“Growth in the category is accelerating, so it’s more than likely sales will double again in the next two years.”

Move towards craft

The Waitrose range revamp follows Tesco’s upheaval of its beer and cider offer in February, which saw the supermarket delist over 30 Heineken SKUs to make space for a growing selection of craft beers.

“The growth of craft has been coming in at the detriment of traditional bottled and canned ales, with cans in particular feeling the squeeze as craft beers increasingly use this packaging format,” said Stares.

“We expect to see craft continuing to grow: the taste and type of beer is important to craft beer drinkers, with price and actual brand less important.

“It’s likely that as the craft beer market continues to grow, retailers will make space for this expanding category by cutting back on the listings of traditional bottled ales.”