Poor beer quality costs pubs over £300m in lost profit, says report

17 March 2016 by
Poor beer quality costs pubs over £300m in lost profit, says report

Pub operators are pouring away £333m of annual profit by failing to raise beer quality standards, according to the latest Beer Quality Report.

The report, published this week by beer quality monitoring experts Vianet and Cask Marque, combines data from a new consumer survey by Cask Marque as well as annual visits by the monitoring agency to more than 20,000 pubs and Vianet's flow monitoring data.

The findings reveal that only 29% of beer lines are perfectly clean, with one in three pints served to UK consumers via an unclean beer line. It warns that poor beer quality is costing operators £111 million in pouring yield and a potential 2% improvement in till yield worth £222 million, with British pubs missing out on an average profit of £6,416 per pub every year.

Vianet Business Insight research shows the average difference in beer volumes between a pub that cleans its lines regularly to one that doesn't equates to the loss of 50 barrels per year, worth £50,000 a year at retail selling price.

He called for more focus on beer quality issues, adding: "This missed opportunity on yield is simply a missed opportunity on profit. For many operators, there remains significant untapped profit from their existing beer sales."

Data from Cask Marque's Beer Quality Survey 2016 shows 90% of consumers rate beer quality is essential or very important when selecting a venue, with 95% saying they would stop using a pub if the beer quality was poor.

Paul Nunny, director of Cask Marque, pointed to Cask Marque's Beer Quality Survey 2016, which shows that 95% of people say they would stop using a pub if the beer quality was poor.

He said: "Quality is at the top of the consumer agenda. They are now demanding more than ever from the businesses to which they choose to give their custom, so it is vital that pub operators focus on getting the right practices and training in place, to ensure they deliver a perfect pint - and perfect experience - every time."

Alton added: "There has never been a more exciting time in the UK draught beer market with the number of UK breweries and wealth of beer styles and products now available. But as operators and as an industry, we need to protect and futureproof the draught beer category by driving up further quality standards. In doing so we can significantly drive the profitability of beer and of pubs."

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