UK: Scottish breweries could face glass shortage this year
The Brewers Association of Scotland has warned that breweries may face a glass shortage when two furnaces close for renovation works, in a position reminiscent the carbon dioxide shortage caused by production facilities closing to be refurbished earlier this year, the Herald Scotland reported on January 8.
Scott Williams, who is Williams Bros' managing director and also TBAS chair, said: "Scottish brewers have continued to thrive as a community.
"We always outperform at beer tastings and competitions and we seem to be managing to keep going with that which is great.
"In terms of what’s happening in the year ahead there are some challenges because there is not enough glass being made in the UK."
Scottish capital-based Innis and Gunn has reported a "transformational" year as it shifted a focus onto lager then announced plans for a new brewery in 2019 and Alloa-based Williams Bros will switch on new machinery that will up output by about 50 per cent.
It comes after Scottish Food and Drink said brewers north of the border must move to protect their market position.
Dougal Sharp, founder of Innis and Gunn, hailed its £20 million brewery plans but also saluted the coming of age of craft lager.
He said: "I think you are seeing lager turning into the product that we all hoped it could be.
"That has been a real highlight of the year for me.
"Its rate of growth continues in bars and supermarkets.
"We have done some wonderful brand activity on it which our fans and the people of Scotland have really got behind and engaged with.
"I think (a highlight was) watching the company really evolve this year with that certainty now that we are focusing on lager.
"We are focusing on driving that forward to become the number one craft lager in the UK.
"That has really galvanised the whole team."
He added: "Change never stops but I think particularly this year the change has been incredibly positive since we know what we are trying to achieve, we have a resolute commitment to achieving it and having made the announcement to build our brewery it is has turned up the dynamism and passion to 11."
Details of the brewery remain under wraps.
However, he said: "We are in discussions with land owners just now and are going to be meeting the council in the new year to talk about our plans.
"There are whole load of internal measures that are happening, project teams, work streams, all the things that we need to make the project happen from an Innis and Gunn perspective.
"We will be making some very exciting announcements about the brewery project, it’s location and how we are going to fund it early in the new year."
It comes after a Canadian operation and presence in the Arches both took off for the craft expert.
Mr Williams said the glass shortage could affect many as the year progresses.
He said: "There is a couple of furnaces been stood down for refurbishments which means the big boys tend to get priority so I think we will be being told that we won’t be able to buy any more bottles than we did this year, so there is no scope for growth.
"That is going to be consistent throughout the industry."
He added: "There is a new focus on cans, that is pretty much the way people are projecting the future because aluminium is massively more easy to recycle than glass.
"By weight a can is about 13g for a 300g bottle."
Mr Williams said: "We’ve got a new brewing kit coming in in early March which will increase capacity by about 60% theoretically but in real terms 45%.
"It’s great. We do a lot of contract work for other people so every time you get additional capacity we fill it with our existing products so we’ve not really make a huge impact with these new products, but with a new canning line which is much faster we have plans for lots of new products next year."
With Brexit, he "hopes that it doesn’t happen" but he added "personally I think that the pound has fallen so much that even if we have a hard Brexit a few months later the pound will have to be worth more than it is at the moment".
The national agency Scotland Food and Drink has moved to expand and protect the sprouting Scottish sector, which has 130 operating breweries.
It hopes to grow brewing into a £1 billion industry by 2030 and make Scottish brewed beer the most desirable in the world but warns the "rising popularity of global craft beer means that Scotland needs to sharpen its game if it is to remain an international leader".
A study released by the Scottish Parliament into brewing and distilling found that the number of start-up breweries focusing on high quality specialist beers has increased.
The report found that most of the growth has been in the micro-brewery market which now represents 83% of Scotland’s brewing base. About 10% of Scottish breweries have sales over £1m.
Scottish brewing is also recognised as having high value as it is linked with several other businesses including the malt sector.
07 January, 2019
