Innis & Gunn is enjoying a strong second quarter with a 20-fold increase in new draught installs at target outlets across Scotland.
Dougal Gunn Sharp. Photograph: Innis & Gunn
It has also gained nine new national listings with major Scottish retailers, and has invested more than 100,000 across its brewery and Brewery Taproom bars.
Since the re-opening of the Scottish on-trade, demand for Innis & Gunn beers has been high, with the brewer already tracking 42% ahead of budget.
Innis & Gunn’s new partnership with C&C Group is also signalling success with a 20-fold increase in new draught installs of itsr award-winning Lager Beer, Session IPA, and Ossian Smoothflow at key accounts across Scotland. Bars which will now pour Innis & Gunn include the popular BAaD (Glasgow), Atholl Arms Hotel (Dunkeld), Kingsmill & Ness Walk (Inverness), and The Caird (Dundee).
Tables at Innis & Gunn’s four Brewery Taproom sites, across Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, have been fully booked since re-opening, with demand for tables in their thousands.
Following significant investment in 2019, a further £32,000 has been invested in the back-of-house systems ahead of re-opening post-lockdown in 2021. A new bespoke ordering app has been created, which allows users to collect loyalty points, redeemable in-bar against future purchases. This has proved popular, with a more than 50% uptake from customers since re-opening, as has the new food menu.
Success continues for Innis & Gunn in the off-trade, where the brand is growing 31% year on year, with nine new national listings secured across Scottish Tesco, Co-Op, ASDA, and Sainsbury’s stores. The new listings include three new formats and the introduction of a formerly limited-edition beer.
New formats
The Original, a single malt whisky cask-matured Scottish golden beer, is now available in a 4 x 330ml basket pack format in all four retailers. The new format is part of the brewer’s move away from plastic packaging and part of a wider sustainability initiative, to be announced later in the year.
Formerly an annual limited-edition release, the hugely popular Irish Whiskey Cask, a Scottish oatmeal stout matured in Irish whiskey barrels, has become a permanent listing, now available at Scottish Tesco stores in 330ml format.
In response to consumer demand, Session IPA and Mangoes on the Run have moved to a larger 440ml can format, with a slight change in ABV. Both beers, in the new format, are now available at Sainsbury’s stores throughout Scotland.
Inveralmond Ossian, owned and brewed by Innis & Gunn, has also received two listings for its new 4 x 440ml format, now available in Co-Op and ASDA stores around the country. This new format follows the introduction of the 440ml can last year, building on the success and performance of the beer in 500ml glass bottle. The Ossian brand is growing at 35% year on year in Scotland, with Ossian the fifth largest mainstream ale in Scotland.
Innis & Gunn is investing £80,000 in new equipment at its Perth brewery to support the production of increased volumes and demand for 440ml formats.
Dougal Gunn Sharp, founder of Innis & Gunn, said: “The demand and momentum for Innis & Gunn and our incredible beers continues to grow, right across the on- and off-trade, from both customers and consumers. We have continued to innovate and invest in the business over the last year and it is really paying off.
“The re-opening of the Scottish on-trade was eagerly awaited, and we have undoubtedly come back with a bang, performing 42% ahead of budget. The significant number of new draught installs of Innis & Gunn beers, as a result of our partnership with C&C, will further support our drinkers as they return to the trade for their much-longed for pints in the pub.
“Innis & Gunn has performed incredibly well in the off-trade over the last year and these nine new national listings will enable our drinkers to enjoy even more from Innis & Gunn, whether that be at home, at parties and summer barbecues, or watching the upcoming Euros with family and friends.”
Innis & Gunn recently unveiled a new look for its award-winning Originals range.
