United Kingdom: Carlsberg to represent San Miguel beer in the UK

As of November, 1, Carlsberg will take responsibility for the production, marketing, selling, and distribution of San Miguel beer in the UK, the Publican posted on October, 1.

Previously, San Miguel – Britain’s biggest-selling world beer brand, according to Nielsen data – had been distributed by Scottish and Newcastle. It follows Carlsberg and Heineken jointly assuming ownership of S&N’s UK brewing and pub operations, as well as the group’s businesses in a number of European markets, in March.

As it was announced in June, Spanish Group Mahou San Miguel, that licenses the brand to S&N, said it was keen to leave S&N following the British firm’s acquisition by Heineken.

San Miguel and Heineken are fierce rivals in the Spanish market’s lager category.

Now, after closing the deal with Mahou San Miguel, Carlsberg UK becomes “the market-leader in the world beer segment, currently the fastest growing beer segment in the UK on-trade,” according to the company.

Carlsberg UK has set aside a “significant” budget to support the brand, including a marketing programme that will be unveiled to customers over the coming months, the company reported.

Carlsberg head of on-trade customer marketing Dave Scott said: “We are really excited about this latest addition to the Carlsberg family. San Miguel has real scale in the on-trade.”

A Carlsberg representative will be contacting all on-trade customers shortly to ensure the transition is a smooth one.

03 October, 2008