Brazil braced for real ale taste

Celebrated Yorkshire brewers Theakston believes its award-winning ales could be a potential winner in locations such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It has begun a serious investigation to see whether the company can tap into this potentially huge market.

The hope is to sell its bottled rather than cask beers into this South American giant. The Masham-based company is awaiting a response to a recent batch of test samples.

“Brazil’s history of trading with British brewing companies is very limited,” says Executive Director Simon Theakston. “But there’s growing world interest in craft brewing of which English brewers are leading exponents.

“The challenge is to introduce a beer of a different style and heritage to a new market. To begin with it will no doubt have curiosity value and will take time to achieve critical mass. Getting the beer on to the shelves will be the easy bit. The real measure of success will be how well consumers take them off the shelves."

“It’s early days and we’re just dipping our toes in the market. But Brazil is a big and stable economy so who wouldn’t be interested? We’re very positively orientated towards Brazil. I don’t envisage particular logistical issues. The key thing is what happens to the product when it gets there.

“We believe that the market for international premium beers in general is ripe for growth as Brazil becomes more international in outlook with both the Olympics and World Cup football being held there in the coming years. That together with the fact that Brazil’s economy has now overtaken our own to be the sixth largest in the world can only help drive the interest in different beer styles.”