A new initiative aimed at plying beer lovers around the world with Scottish suds has teamed up with 15 more brewers from across the country.
Craft Beer Clan of Scotland, created last year by Glasgow-based wholesaler JW Filshill, was originally joined by William Bros from Alloa, Eden Brewery from St Andrews, Inveralmond from Perth, and Deeside Brewery from Banchory.
And another horde of breweries big and small have now come aboard to swap knowledge and branch out into new markets.
The group has focused on markets in the Asia Pacific region so far, but is now in talks with distributors in Scandinavia, Dubai, Japan and North America.
It is targeting an annual turnover of £2.5million within five years.
Beer industry veteran Chris Miller, who is head of exports at JW Filshill International, said: “We’ve assembled 19 award-winning craft breweries creating all beer types from porters to peat-smoked beers to the very best pale ales and craft lagers.
“Our strategy has been to identify an opportunity to target consumers who already love and buy Scotch whisky but want to try something new with a great story behind it — and that’s what these breweries and their brands have.”
Craft Beer Clan has brought in several pint doyens to give it the lowdown on consumer trends in the Asia Pacific market.
One of the leaders of the clan is Jong Woo Kim, who spent 25 years in the packaged goods industry in Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines, and headed Diageo’s North Asia operations for more than six years.
Joe Tcheng, former managing director of South East Asia and latterly Greater China for Diageo, is also providing an insight into local markets.
Their advice appears to be sinking in. Mr Miller said: “We learned very quickly in our new Asia Pacific markets that women are just as adventurous as men when it comes to discovering new taste sensations.
“The bigger 50cl bottles don’t always appeal and we’ve found that women and new entrants to the craft beer sector will trial the smaller 33cl packs.”
The 15 new members are West and Drygate, Caledonian, Loch Ness Brewery, Lerwick Brewery, Speyside Craft Brewery, Black Wolf, Brewmeister, Broughton Ales, Fyne Ales, Jaw Brew, Knops Beer, Loch Lomond Brewery, Stewart Brewing and Tennent Caledonian.
Lerwick Brewery’s sales and marketing manager, Isla Mercer, said one of the main benefits of joining the group is the platform it creates for speaking to other independent breweries and share useful information.
Ms Mercer said: “We’re growing very fast but as a small, family-run business we don’t have the reach in terms of personnel to target these key, new markets.
“When you’re on your own in a remote location you can often miss out on that type of interaction so that’s been another really valuable aspect of joining the Craft Beer Clan partnership.”
The initiative’s personal approach also sits well with members.
“We’re working with the breweries very much on an individual basis,” Mr Miller said. “For example, Williams Bros, one of the biggest and longest-established craft brewers in Scotland, is already exporting to around 20 countries but is using the expertise of Craft Beer Clan to target new business in markets it hasn’t yet penetrated.
“Others such as Jaw Brew, a husband-and-wife team in Glasgow who only set up in business last year, require more help and we’re in a position to tailor our services to their specific requirements.”