Convenience stores are playing an increasingly key role in the UK beer market and have increased sales by 21% in the last year. Their growing importance has been highlighted in a market report by Interbrew which showed they were performing ahead of the multiple grocers which increased their share of the market by 11%. C-stores hold 9% of the market by value and 8% by volume. The multiples have a 53% value share. In the year to August independents' sales declined by 5%, multiple specialists were up 1% and Co-ops' beer sales were up 6%. Overall the take home market grew 5% in value and 4% in volume while sales through pubs were down 2% (value) and 5% (volume). The report said the main issues for the take home trade were having the right range, chilling more beer and linking with food. Retailers need to cut out the clutter and weed out underperforming products. Less than 10% of beer was sold chilled, which is a missed opportunity, the report said. Interbrew has installed 1,500 Stella Artois branded chillers this year. It advocated the use of more innovative cross promotions with food and highlighted the importance of home shopping. Only 6% of adults buy on line but a quarter of the adult population have access to the technology and need to be convinced of its benefits. However consumers have found on-line shopping difficult to navigate and the report said it needs to be simplified and that brand champions should be used. The report, whose conclusions were based on ACNielsen data, said the top performing brand in the take home market is Stella Artois with sales up 26% to £281m. Carling is the leading on trade beer brand with sales up 7% to £1.2bn. {{DRINKS }}