Tesco will up the premium credentials of its own-label booze with a debut beer and cider range under its Finest banner, The Grocer can exclusively reveal.
The 10-strong line-up of bespoke bottled drinks includes a 9.2% abv American Double IPA, a sparkling cider fermented with yeast from Champagne and an own-label alcoholic ginger beer. The other drinks comprise a Single Orchard Cider; Oak Matured Still Cider; Organic Pear Cider; Traditional Porter; cherry fruit beer Kriek Bier; Belgian Wheat Beer; and Belgian Abbey Beer.
Priced from £1.49 to £3.99, all except the Single Orchard Cider roll out on Monday to most Tesco stores. They will be merchandised together on new Finest-branded black shelving in the drinks fixture.
Each product has been exclusively developed and brewed for the retailer, which has forged new own-label relationships with specialist brewers and cider-makers such as Thatchers, Brewdog and Williams Brothers in Scotland. Further extensions to the range are planned for next spring.
The Tesco Finest Beer range which includes the ciders was created to "set a new standard for variety and quality" in beer and cider and meet a trend for people who wanted to try new premium drinks at home, beer buyer Chiara Nesbitt said.
Communicating the high quality of Tesco's own label was a "big focus" for the retailer, product development manager Andy Gale added.
"As a business, we are taking quality more seriously," he said. "We have a very big focus on it at the moment and we're keen to communicate how good the own-label offer is. The new drinks are great quality but also an everyday treat people can afford."
The sparkling Cidre Prestige and still cider a style more usually found on draught in the on-trade would take the fast-growing cider category to "a new level", Gale predicted.
Each product clearly names the supplier and includes a signature of the head brewer, part of a trend across Tesco BWS to inform consumers about the personality behind the brands. Nesbitt said Tesco was working with more premium producers on an exclusive basis.
BrewDog, the controversial Scots brewer behind the American Double IPA, said it was "surprised" the Tesco name was printed next to its own on labels.
"The packaging is very much in our style," said founder James Watt. "Double IPA is very popular in California and is unlike all the beers in the UK in its relatively extreme hoppiness, strength and flavour," he added.
The 10-strong line-up of bespoke bottled drinks includes a 9.2% abv American Double IPA, a sparkling cider fermented with yeast from Champagne and an own-label alcoholic ginger beer. The other drinks comprise a Single Orchard Cider; Oak Matured Still Cider; Organic Pear Cider; Traditional Porter; cherry fruit beer Kriek Bier; Belgian Wheat Beer; and Belgian Abbey Beer.
Priced from £1.49 to £3.99, all except the Single Orchard Cider roll out on Monday to most Tesco stores. They will be merchandised together on new Finest-branded black shelving in the drinks fixture.
Each product has been exclusively developed and brewed for the retailer, which has forged new own-label relationships with specialist brewers and cider-makers such as Thatchers, Brewdog and Williams Brothers in Scotland. Further extensions to the range are planned for next spring.
The Tesco Finest Beer range which includes the ciders was created to "set a new standard for variety and quality" in beer and cider and meet a trend for people who wanted to try new premium drinks at home, beer buyer Chiara Nesbitt said.
Communicating the high quality of Tesco's own label was a "big focus" for the retailer, product development manager Andy Gale added.
"As a business, we are taking quality more seriously," he said. "We have a very big focus on it at the moment and we're keen to communicate how good the own-label offer is. The new drinks are great quality but also an everyday treat people can afford."
The sparkling Cidre Prestige and still cider a style more usually found on draught in the on-trade would take the fast-growing cider category to "a new level", Gale predicted.
Each product clearly names the supplier and includes a signature of the head brewer, part of a trend across Tesco BWS to inform consumers about the personality behind the brands. Nesbitt said Tesco was working with more premium producers on an exclusive basis.
BrewDog, the controversial Scots brewer behind the American Double IPA, said it was "surprised" the Tesco name was printed next to its own on labels.
"The packaging is very much in our style," said founder James Watt. "Double IPA is very popular in California and is unlike all the beers in the UK in its relatively extreme hoppiness, strength and flavour," he added.
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