Scottish craft brewery cheers 2000% leap in online sales since lockdown

Scottish beer-maker Harviestoun Brewery is cheering a leap in online sales since launching a next-day home delivery service during lockdown.

Stu Cook and Kevin Giudici, joint MDs at Alva-based Harviestoun with the award-winning Schiehallion beer.

With bars and restaurants forced to close their doors, the Alva-based brewer’s established online business boomed and the firm said that trend was showing no signs of slowing down.

The firm – famed for its Schiehallion pilsner – now offers a next day delivery service to anywhere in the UK if ordered online before 1pm. This has helped it record a 2,000 per cent increase in online beer and lager sales.

Managing director Stuart Cook said: “The coronavirus pandemic has substantially changed the way we all shop.

“We were hopeful the Harviestoun reputation would count for a lot amongst beer drinkers who hadn’t been able to get out for a pint in their local during lockdown, and we have been blown away by the response to our ‘beer to your doorstep’ service.”

He added: “In these tough times for the industry, getting beer fresh from our brewery direct to the trade is critical as a support mechanism.”

The brewery’s product range is becoming increasingly available in supermarkets, readily bought from major online e-commerce customers and the export market.

The dark beers, such as Old Engine Oil, Engineers Reserve and the Ola Dubh age range, are said to be especially in high demand across Europe, China, the US, Canada and South Korea.

Harviestoun has been brewing in the shadow of the Ochil Hills in Clackmannanshire since 1983, pre-dating the craft beer boom.

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