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The Thoughts Of Chairman Mick
by Mick Lewis
Ever wondered if today's modern pub companies are actually interested in pubs? I mean, of course, the more traditional pubs that are not just aimed at kids. Well, the Laurel Pub Company certainly aren't. It seems that they are going to be putting over 400 pubs on the market, and guess what, they are all of a more traditional nature. They intend to concentrate on their high street outlets. All I can say is "well done". At least we know where they stand!
Do Punch Taverns and Pubmaster have any genuine interest in real ale? Perhaps not, as sales in their pubs have recently fallen by more than 3.5%. It may not surprise you to know that during this time, both companies had focused on lager and sales of this went up by over 5.5%. Couldn't be because of the greater profit margin on lager, could it?
The beginning of May saw CAMRA's judging for the Cider and Perry awards, which took place at Reading Beer and Cider Festival. First up in the cider category was Gwynt y Ddraig (see page 3) the first time that a Welsh cider has won. The top perry was a single variety from Dennis Gwatkin, made from Blakeney Red pears. By a complete coincidence, on the same day as the judging, this very cider was on sale on the bar at the Shetland Folk Festival. Thinking that there might be story in it, the Shetland Times was instantly sent a press release about the winner. Unfortunately, CAMRA's computer system then crashed, and so no further releases were sent for several days, giving the Shetland Times a world exclusive on the winners. Could only happen with cider.
Anyone going to Norway in the near future expecting to find some sort of beer had better think again. As I write this, there is to be national strike by brewery workers. And don't think that they can bring it in from Denmark or Sweden, because the Norwegian truck drivers are also on strike. Surely there's now a business opportunity for a home-brew exporter?
Further afield, things seem to be hotting up in China. Currently, the world's second-largest brewer, SABMiller, are in a takeover fight for Harbin Brewery. Interbrew have done a deal with Zhujiang Brewery to distribute Becks, and Guangdon Brewery is changing its name to Kingway (why?). All this in a country where only 19 litres per head per annum is consumed (compared with 50 litres in Japan). OK, so they do have a lot of heads, but it's still only one week's worth for a lot of the drinkers who I know.
What a great shame it is to see Crockers closed, with its future as a pub uncertain. And this brings me on to a new publication - The CAMRA Regional Inventory for London. This booklet lists, with descriptions, the 133 pubs left in London with the best and most historic interiors, and 25 of them are in the North London CAMRA Branch area. (I wish that Leyton Orient had 25 players that I'd like to talk about in a hundred years time). But what a pity that the pubs in this book equate to only 3% of the total number in London, after years of modernising and opening out. The book also has some superb colour photos and is available from CAMRA priced at £3.50.
Those of you who sampled the bottle-conditioned Irish cider that we had at the London Drinker festival should not be fooled by another cider from Ireland - Magners. Owned by Bulmer Ltd in Ireland (no relation to the English company), it is a fizzy, industrial cider. It's been over here for four years and was mainly aimed at Glasgow, where it now resides in over half of the bars and pubs. Let's hope that they don't have the same success over here as they have in Ireland, where they now have 94% of the on-trade business.
Mick Lewis
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 26.
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