Pertainer Kegs

Following another year of exceptional export sales growth Robinsons Brewery have committed to future sales with a joint on-way keg proposition investment.

With Old Tom winning best beer in the world award in 2009, the last 2 years have been very good for sales with significant listings in Sweden, Finland and the US leading the way as strong sales of Chocolate Tom in South America.

Alongside this Robinsons also have one of the finest bottling and contract packaging plants in the beer industry with over 40 family-owned and SIBA customers.

“The next logical step was to look at draught exports” explains Managing Director, Oliver Robinson.  “Regular kegs cost a lot, especially when it takes 6 months for them to be returned, so we were delighted when our export partner, Sovereign approached us about a one way keg solution.  Petainers are effectively a PET box which fits neatly inside a rigid cardboard outer which can be fully branded.”

“So we can use these for our own beers and those of our contract customers and the initial feedback has been fantastic, we already have 6 customers keen to start exporting.  They are recyclable, improve cash flow, require lower set up costs, carry no risk of keg theft and are more efficient in freight containers and to top it all, deliver a great quality product 6 months after filling.  In fact they can be very useful for certain domestic customers too such as hotels and sports clubs.”

“We have the capacity to fill at least 20,000 in year 1 with a maximum of around 40,000- all in 20 litre kegs which attach to a coupler like any other keg beer.  This could be increased should we wish to change shift patterns but this is a great place to start” he concluded.

David Davies, Managing Director of Sovereign added, “Robinsons are the perfect partner for us with this project.  Old Tom is already selling well in bottle and we have several customers asking for a draught format.  They have packaging facilities under their own roof and have shown the flexibility to allow this to evolve.  I have no doubt this is the best form of one-way keg having spent over three years exploring the options.”