A new trade organisation for imported beer producers and distributors is to call itself NoFibs (National Organisation For Imported Beers), which will also become the logo for its campaigning activities.
Budweiser Budvar, Heineken and Tiger Beer are supporting the initiative, which gets under way officially in March when the programme for 2005 will be finalised.
One of the organisation’s first projects will be to commission research that will form the basis of its marketing activities, exploring the nature of what the group claims is an increasing consumer backlash against “big beer brands”.
NoFibs said this was borne out by the fact there are more than 500 imported beers in the UK, an increase of 300 since 2000. It hopes to discover who these new drinkers are and their motivations.
NoFibs is a dig at brands which market themselves as being foreign but are actually brewed in the UK under licence.
John Harley, chief executive of Budweiser Budvar, said: “We see NoFibs essentially as an organisation aimed at both consumer and trade, but with an emphasis on the former.
“We want drinkers to understand the difference between brewed under licence and brewed at source.
“We also want them to understand the unique values of the imported specialist sector.”
The first NoFibs meeting will be held at Heineken’s London headquarters. The group is asking people wishing to attend to contact psparker@msn.com

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