Swede dreams for BrewDog after announcing Scandinavian distribution deal

Published on Monday 20 July 2009 21:33

SWEDEN is set to become the largest market for BrewDog beers after the Fraserburgh-based brewery yesterday unveiled two new distribution deals, writes Peter Ranscombe.

BrewDog will ship 1.5 million bottles of Punk IPA, 77 Lager and Zeitgeist to Sweden over the course of the next year.

The company yesterday revealed its sales in the first half of the year had increased by 230 per cent compared with 2008, with the brewer projecting turnover for this year of 1.6m.

BrewDog produced 1.4 million bottles of beer in the first half of the year, compared with 450,000 bottles in the first half of 2008. Sales growth had slowed slightly in the second quarter, with BrewDog having previously reported a 430 per cent rise in the first quarter.

Under the new deals, 27 per cent of the firm's production will be shipped to Sweden, compared with the 25 per cent that stays in the UK and the 23 per cent that goes to the United States.

The company, which employs 18 full-time staff, now exports to 15 countries after entering the Russian, Portuguese and Norwegian markets for the first time this month.

About 55 per cent of BrewDog's production is Punk IPA, with its other brands including Trashy Blonde, Paradox and Dogma. In the UK, the beers are sold in Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's supermarkets, while recent contracts have been signed with on-trade distributors including Coors, Belhaven, LWC and Waverley.

James Watt, BrewDog founder, said: "The rest of the UK beer market is far from a picture of health, however we're standing steadfast in defiance of this decline."

Production at the firm's Fraserburgh brewery has already been ramped up from two million to 3.5 million bottles a year but Watt now wants to build a 25 million bottle plant.

Fellow Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn is already a big player in Sweden, with managing director Dougal Sharp proclaiming his beer is the second best-selling imported ale behind Newcastle Brown, based on liquor shop sales.

Sharp is producing a limited edition beer for the Swedish market, aged in barrels that previously contained 18-year-old Speyside malt.