Dartmoor Brewery Joins Export Market As Its Craft Beers Head To China
Dartmoor Brewery, the highest brewery in England, has struck its first deal in the export market after signing a deal with a Chinese wholesaling business to distribute two of their most popular beers in China.
Dartmoor Brewery was approached by the owner of the wholesaling business after he had tasted and enjoyed one of the brewery’s beers on a recent trip to the UK.
The first shipment of 800 bottled beers from Dartmoor Brewery including the award winning Jail Ale and Legend, will be sent to China next month.
Beer sales have soared in China in recent years and as Karen Lunney, who is responsible for developing exports at Dartmoor Brewery, commented the market for real ale in China is still relatively new and offers considerable potential to Dartmoor Brewery: “Beer is already a hugely popular drink in China, in fact it’s the world’s largest beer market claiming one in every four pints sold globally, but in the main the sector is dominated by chilled lagers and light ales.
“Although British real ales are not currently very well known in China, we believe there is a strong growth opportunity for sweeter beers and real ales like our Jail Ale and Legend.”
Dartmoor Brewery which has been brewing their beers from the heart of Dartmoor National Park since 1994, has created a new Chinese version of the beer labels for the reverse of the bottles to comply with export requirements. “British brands are well liked in China and we’re keen to appeal to both the ex-pat and premium Chinese markets, ” added Karen.
Dartmoor Brewery’s move into exports has been made possible by the company’s continued expansion which has been borne out of their ambitious growth strategy. Within the last two years the Brewery has made investments in equipment, staff and a rebrand enabling the Brewery to expand sales beyond their South West heartland to across the UK.
Dartmoor Brewery is hopeful their beers will be well received by the Chinese and this will bring further sales success to the Princetown based brewery, “Exporting is a very exciting step for the Brewery and we hope to see sales rise as a direct result. We’ve worked with advisors and we’re confident there is an appetite for real ale in China, but this initial Chinese order is just one pallet so we’ll be keen to hear how well it sells and what the Chinese craft beer market makes of our Dartmoor brewed beers.
Dartmoor Brewery’s Karen Lunney with bottles of Legend and Jail Ale ready for the Chinese market
“If well received, we could be looking at high volumes for future orders,” concluded Karen Lunney.
Dartmoor Brewery produces more than 2.5 million pints of award winning real ales, using traditional brewing techniques and local ingredients. Dartmoor Brewery is now Devon’s second largest brewery.
