Brewers: Restaurant owners will be richer, more handsome and more successful if they sell you more craft beer
Well, knock us down with a feather. A beer industry body has suggested one in three people would visit restaurants more regularly – if more craft beer was available there.
According to independent research for the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), conducted by M&C Allegra Foodservice, more than 33 per cent of 1,000 people would be enticed to eat out if craft beer offerings were more extensive.
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"It seems consumers are wanting more than the traditional brands associated with perhaps an Indian or Italian restaurant," SIBA said in a statement.
According to the brewers' body, which represents more than 850 brewers and over 5,000 different beers, despite the growth in the popularity of craft-brewer beer, the majority of restaurants in the UK are not meeting consumer demand.
Craft beer's status has grown in recent years and was recently found to have the status of a "luxury" and "aspirational" item by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.
Read more: Try not to panic: Craft beer prices have been threatened by hop shortages
"Craft-brewed beer is growing in popularity across the UK and the restaurants which have recognised this and started to serve a range of interesting, flavoursome beers have thrived. Unfortunately though most restaurants don’t put in the same effort when it comes to beer as they do when selecting their wine list, something our new research suggests could be seriously damaging their commercial potential," Nick Stafford, SIBA’s operations director said.
So there you go. Brewers want restaurants to sell more beer. No kidding…