United Kingdom: SABMiller mulling over the launch of one more of its global beers in the UK

SABMiller is considering expanding its range of UK brands by launching one of its global premium beers in a bid to boost market share, The Marketing Week communicated on November, 20.

The brewer is currently conducting research with retailers and consumers to assess which of its global beers could be successfully introduced in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the company says it will focus its UK efforts on brands with “heritage, provenance and authenticity”.

“People are going out less but when they do they want something special”, she adds.

SABMiller global brands currently unavailable in the UK include Club Colombia, Nile Special and Ursus.

The new entrant will join brands including Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell in SABMiller’s UK portfolio.

The brewer is looking to expand on its 6% share of the UK premium lager market.

It has recently launched major marketing pushes for Peroni and Pilsner Urquell in the last 12 months, which helped grow volumes of the two brands by 36% and 26% respectively in the six months to 30 September.

The brewer is considering ramping up marketing for Pilsner Urquell further by testing what would be the first television activity for the brand in the UK.

20 November, 2009