UK & Estonia: Top Estonian beer is going on sale in UK

Estonia's best selling beer is to go on sale in the UK thanks to a niche beer importer set up by former Scottish & Newcastle executive Roger Crosthwaite, The Business Scotsman posted on August 19th.

Crosthwaite, who has spent over two years trawling Europe for small, premium, specialist beers, says he is hoping to replicate the success of Red Stripe, which became a cult symbol in the mid-Eighties.

REC Brands will import the 4.7% strength Estonian beer A.Le Coq to form part of a portfolio including Starobrno from the Czech Republic, Nektar from Bosnia and Presidente from the Dominican Republic.

Crosthwaite said: "I have always been aware of the quality of beer in Estonia. I rate it second only to Czech in terms of quality. The mainstream lager market in the UK is going down markedly. What people are looking for is complexity and unusual discoveries from the continent. We are seeing a huge uptake in these beers from gastro pubs."

Crosthwaite's team will primarily focus on the on-trade - selling to pubs and clubs - and specialist retailers such as Majestic and Oddbins.

He added that an unusual foil cover on cans of A.Le Coq would allow hygiene-conscious consumers to drink it straight from the can. "The major appeal of this brand is because of its foil cover," he said. "We see enormous marketing opportunities for this in bars and clubs."

Britain's mature beer market has led brewers to release more products onto the market, many with innovative qualities, to try to encourage growth.

22 August, 2007