Borders brewers are on a roll

THREE drinks makers from the Borders are teaming up to promote their wares to distributors throughout the UK and will pool resources to tempt pubs to take on a wider choice of products.

Under the “Born in the Borders” banner, Broughton Ales, the Scottish Borders Brewery and cider maker Thistly Cross hope to raise their combined sales by 20 per cent by bundling their drinks.

Bret Retallick, sales manager at Broughton Ales, said: “We realised as a group that, independently, we were aiming to target and supply the same kind of outlets. By joining forces, we can provide an interesting offer to the trade and build the craft-brewing reputation of the Borders.”

The initiative kicks off next month with trade buyers being offered six casks each of Broughton’s Merlin’s Ale, Thistly Cross Original cider and Foxy Blonde from the Scottish Borders Brewery.

The brewers plan to rotate the choices on offer each month so they can build up a following for the different products in their ranges.

Peter Stuart, cidermaker at Thistly Cross, added: “We believe this is the first time that independent Scottish drinks producers have adopted this kind of sales model.

“We operate in an increasingly competitive market and need to achieve stand-out.”

John Henderson, owner of the Scottish Borders Brewery, said the companies were not worried about competing against each other because they bring different products to the partnership.

He said: “All three businesses have great provenance behind them and offer different products and tastes for craft ale and cider enthusiasts.”

News of the initiative comes six months after Williams Brothers – the Alloa-based brewer behind brands including Birds & Bees, Midnight Sun and Seven Giraffes – was appointed to act as supermarket chain Morrisons’ beer buyer north of the Border.

Richard McLelland, director of sales at Williams Brothers and a member of the “brotherhood”, an informal alliance of Scottish brewers, said the companies involved were toasting the success of the project.

“Fraoch Heather Ale has become the first of the beers in the scheme to go from a Scotland-wide listing to a UK-wide listing,” McLelland explained.

“Birds & Bees is also going to start and trial UK-wide listing in September.”

McLelland said that he hoped a further two, smaller breweries would also be able to join the initiative.

As well as promoting the beers from other breweries, Williams Brothers is continuing to enjoy success of its own in overseas markets.

McLelland revealed that the company has signed a deal to ship its first batch of beer to Brazil, with the South American market set to sample ranges including Caesar Augustus, Fraoch Heather Ale and Joker Indian Pale Ale.

“Breaking into the ‘Bric’ emerging markets was one of our big aims this year and we’ve put in a lot of hard work to get our beers into Brazil, including all the paperwork,” said McLelland. “We hope to be shipping into the Chinese market by the end of the year.”