Specialist beer importer Cave Direct is to open a new hub in Bristol this month in its next step towards delivering direct nationwide.
This means the Bristol on- and off-trade will have access to Cave’s full list of imported beers, such as Kona and Paulaner, as well as their British portfolio, including Beavertown, and Cloudwater. It will also allow the company to offer accounts the technical and marketing support it currently provides from its warehouses in Manchester and Kent.
Cave Direct founder, Colin Gilhespy, said: “Our long-term strategy has always been to deliver direct throughout the UK using our own drays. This allows us to interact face to face with our customers, while delivering the freshest beer, competitive pricing and greater stock control.
“This is a big step towards that ambition and Bristol, with its independent, resilient and cultured outlook, will be perfect for our list of some 300-plus acclaimed beers.”
The business will be known as Cave Direct West and operated by company director Mike Rochester, a long-serving employee of Cave Direct. Mike hopes to be fully operational by September 5 at Unit E, 126 Albert Road BS2 0YA.
Cave Direct was founded in 1979 and is the UK’s biggest importer of Belgian beer, bringing in more than 50 breweries as well as looking after exclusive imported brands such as Paulaner from Germany, Kona from Hawaii and Lervig from Norway. The company also works with many of the UK’s best craft breweries, including Beavertown, Tiny Rebel, Cloudwater, Gipsy Hill and new Bristol brewery Lost and Grounded.
