Why no Irish beers in the local off licence!!

ciaran76

MANUTD99 wrote: »

So I was in Centra this afternoon looking to finish off my Sunday day in the pub with a couple of bottles of guinness extra stout bottles.( I knew they wouldnt have my favourite O Hara's Stout). I was drinking Galway Hooker in the pub and was going down a treat

I see in the other thread you were on Parkgate st.
I know its a bit of a walk but not too bad of a walk up to Drinkstore on Manor street in Stoneybatter. They have plenty of Irish beers for your selection.

blueshed

in my local centra i can get 6 polish lagers now and 3 other eastern european lagers=nearly all are very nice imo.
can also get 3 or 4 of the cheapo lagers like dutch gold n tuborg
they also stock the run of the mill buds-millers-guinness etc.

i asked would/could they try and get in some chimay-o haras-and some english ales and was told that they only get 5 cases of beer minimum order from there supplier

i dont belive them as they must 20plus different beers on the shelve so they must have a massive stock in there store room.

most shops only stock what there going to sell and make a profit on.

what i do now is call to places that have what i want and buy a few btls every week and build up a little collection so when i want a nice ale/lager its in the fridge/shed for me.

the beer revolu

blueshed wrote: »

i asked would/could they try and get in some chimay-o haras-and some english ales and was told that they only get 5 cases of beer minimum order from there supplier

i dont belive them as they must 20plus different beers on the shelve so they must have a massive stock in there store room.

It would be typical to have a 5 case minimum order from a supplier but that would mean a total of five cases - not five cases of each beer.

I guess that their argument would be that they mightn't want five cases at a time from a specialist supplier. Galling when you think that they probably buy cheap mainstream stuff by the pallet from big distributors (I used to work for a small specialist beer importer/distributor and this minimum order was always a problem for me).

Five case minimum order is normal. It costs the distribuor a fair bit to get get the stock delivered. It's not worth the bother if the cost of delivery is more than the case of beer your delivering.

rubadub

[QUOTE=MANUTD99;69972795 Bud, Heineken,![/QUOTE]

BeerNut wrote: »

Brewed in Ireland, so every bit as Irish as Guinness

AFAIK it is only kegs of heineken brewed here now, all the cans and bottles are from holland. I remember years back others were brewed here.

redlead wrote: »

Because there is a large population of Eastern Europeans who are buying it.

And Irish, I buy it, I notice Eastern Europeans buying quite a bit of Irish whiskey in on offie I go to.

You should ask them for it, same with pubs otherwise they will not know. To make a real point go into the pub and ask for a bottle of O'Haras and act surprised if they do not have it, list another, then another -then eventually ask "have you any Irish beers at all";)

I am always going into pubs and while mates are ordering I am on my tippytoes looking into the fridges, then the barman often asks "what are you looking for", I might say "decent bottled beer" , then sort of indirectly make my point by then scanning the taps and having to settle for a guinness. What drives me mad lately is loads will have erdinger NA, but no other erdingers, I usually make a point of this too, even if I know they have only NA I will ask for a bottle of the normal one or cristal.

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

AFAIK it is only kegs of heineken brewed here now, all the cans and bottles are from holland.

Yep, you're right. I withdraw my sarky comment and offer the following in its place:

rubadub wrote: »

having to settle for a guinness.

You don't have to, you know. Other pubs are available.

rubadub

BeerNut wrote: »

You don't have to, you know. Other pubs are available.

Problem is the mates have already ordered! -otherwise I would love to walk out. Mentioned this idea as a good protest on price before, would work with choice too -a big team of lads enter the pub acting like they are gagging for drink and food, be all enthusiastic and then walk out once you hear the price of a pint (or in this case the lack of choice) -it would only work really well with the owner or manager though.

I really don't get this nonsense of "it won't sell" etc, there is a thread in after hours with publicans posting defending their pathetic choice of beers. Nobody is asking for them to have it stocked to the ceiling, just get a few bottles in to see what does sell. I have often drank pubs dry of particular bottles -but that was only 4-6 bottles, even if it doesn't sell drink it yourself mr publican.

I was in a hotel in carlow recently and was delighted to see O'Haras on draught, we were chatting to the barmen, my mates later told me he was slagging me when I was in the toilet saying "jaysus, nobody drinks that muck, dunno how he manages it".

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

it would only work really well with the owner or manager though.

I can't think of a single owner or bar manager who would take notice of something like that. The only place consumers can make a real impact is on the figures at the end of the month.

rubadub wrote: »

I really don't get this nonsense of "it won't sell" etc, there is a thread in after hours with publicans posting defending their pathetic choice of beers.

On the one hand you can't really blame them for being risk averse, but on the other it's ignorance and laziness. They are used to other people doing the sales job: advertising, promotions etc. All they have to do is put the stuff in the fridge or on tap and away it goes. You won't get that with (hate the term, but) "specialty beers". It's true: they won't sell. It's great that the new Irish craft brewers have paid attention to point-of-sale material. I think it's absolutely vital in an Irish pub if you can't do mass-market advertising and expect your beer to sell.

And there's a lot of ignorance: the management don't drink these beers and don't know anything about them. We had someone here recently who didn't know that the BBE date on his Chimay Bleu could be safely ignored, and that it generally gets better with age. Decent beer is a strange and confusing world for Irish publicans. Which is all fine if you're doing well and making enough money on the macros. But if you're not...

... it's obviously the supermarkets' fault :rolleyes:

the beer revolu

BeerNut wrote: »

Decent beer is a strange and confusing world for Irish publicans. Which is all fine if you're doing well and making enough money on the macros. But if you're not...

... it's obviously the supermarkets' fault :rolleyes:

No it's the smoking ban's fault!

oh, hang on it's the recession's fault..... either way it's the government's fault:D

the beer revolu

Deleted User wrote: »

Five case minimum order is normal. It costs the distribuor a fair bit to get get the stock delivered. It's not worth the bother if the cost of delivery is more than the case of beer your delivering.

No body's arguing otherwise.
Unfortunately, it can be a barrier to retailers trying new beers from new suppliers, though.

BeerNut

the beer revolu wrote: »

No it's the smoking ban's fault!

oh, hang on it's the recession's fault..... either way it's the government's fault:D

It's the supermarket argument that really gets me. I mean, when did pubs ever compete with supermarkets on price? I just can't see any sense or logic to it, but I've never seen anyone pulled up on it.

yesterday's Irish Times wrote:

VFI president Gerry Mellett said the removal of restrictions on below-cost selling had broken the back of the industry. “They’re selling at prices that we can never compete with,” he said

Ah yes, unlike the Great Supermarkets vs Pubs Price War of 1996. Sure I remember it well.
:mad:

ciaran76

My mates and I now regulary drink in Portherhouse/The Bull and Castle and Mulligans since other pubs dont have a choice like these pubs.

I stopped going to the local with my mates as it pissed me off what I could buy and told my mates I am not going there as I dont like the beer in there.
You wouldnt force someone to eat in a restuarant they didnt like so same applies to beer imo.

I recently went to my local and was like a 2 year old tippy toeing to look to see what was in the fridges and scanning up and down the bar to see what they had. Settled with Guinness again and changed to Smithwicks as Guinness was too cold. I know I wont be going back there in a hurry.

MANUTD99

Well I passed on a email to the store in question. I thought it was Centra but in actually fact it's Londis.

I just told them I was disappointed with the lack of creativity of beers and the extra lack of Irish ones.

We'll see what they say if they get back to me and if they take my suggestions on board.

It will be interesting to see if I push it enough would I eventually see O Hara's on the shelf. I doubt it though.

matrim

ciaran76 wrote: »

Mulligans.

Does Mulligans have much of a choice? I was in there not too long about but wasn't drinking on the day. I noticed either Erdinger or Paulaner bottles behind the bar (can't remember now) but the taps looked like the normal choices of Heineken\Carlsberg\Guinness etc

BeerNut

matrim wrote: »

Does Mulligans have much of a choice?

If you go to the correct Mulligan's it does

matrim

BeerNut wrote: »

If you go to the correct Mulligan's it does

Here's me thinking it was the other Mulligans

ciaran76

matrim wrote: »

Does Mulligans have much of a choice? I was in there not too long about but wasn't drinking on the day. I noticed either Erdinger or Paulaner bottles behind the bar (can't remember now) but the taps looked like the normal choices of Heineken\Carlsberg\Guinness etc

Just to make sure we on about the same Pub I am talking about Mulligan's of Stoneybatter.

They dont have Heineken\Carlsberg\Guinness taps so we probaly talking about different pubs?

the beer revolu

BeerNut wrote: »

It's the supermarket argument that really gets me. I mean, when did pubs ever compete with supermarkets on price? I just can't see any sense or logic to it, but I've never seen anyone pulled up on it.

Ah yes, unlike the Great Supermarkets vs Pubs Price War of 1996. Sure I remember it well.
:mad:

There certainly is an argument that the supermarkets are killing off smaller off licences but publicans making that argument is a bit like struggling restaurants claiming that their problem is that the supermarkets are selling steaks too cheap!

Bigcheeze

BeerNut wrote: »

It's the supermarket argument that really gets me. I mean, when did pubs ever compete with supermarkets on price? I just can't see any sense or logic to it, but I've never seen anyone pulled up on it.

Ah yes, unlike the Great Supermarkets vs Pubs Price War of 1996. Sure I remember it well.
:mad:

No they've never competed on price, nor should they as they are different products/services in the same way muffins in Starbucks don't directly compete with muffins in Tesco.

However, the pubs need there to be some reasonable relationship between the price of an off-sale and on-sale and the gap in price has widened massively over the last 10-15 years.

I don't think the price of a can of lager has actually increased since the early nineties. I think a typical can of lager was around £1 then (i.e. €1.27)

So the real price of canned beer has actually fallen while pub beer prices have outstripped the rate of inflation.

During this time there has been great consolidation in the brewing industry and production has moved to massive "super-breweries" where the cost of production is driven down to the minimum.

While it can be argued that lower production costs should benefit the pubs too, many of their costs are related to property, staff, rates, energy which have all grown far beyond the rate of inflation in last 10-15 years.

There is also anecdotal evidence that breweries apply much higher prices to publicans in this jurisdiction than say the UK - (Avivia stadium dispute with Diageo has been cited).

The pub industry industry has to take a lot of the blame for their own situation. If a small corner pub can change hands for >€5m then clearly it's an industry riding on a bubble, and bubbles always burst. Most of them still don't take price competition or value for money seriously and very few of them offer any sort of innovation or differentiation in the product or service they offer......Pubs like Bull and Castle, Porterhouse and L Mulligan Grocer being the exception.

BeerNut

Bigcheeze wrote: »

However, the pubs need there to be some reasonable relationship between the price of an off-sale and on-sale

Thing is, they don't "need" this. They want this, but it's not the same thing. Look at how cinema has survived the development of home entertainment by offering things home entertainment can't do. And when home entertainment raised its game (TV, colour TV, stereo TV, surround sound) cinema has always had something else to offer. Pubs don't seem to feel the need to react in any way to real-life market dynamics other than to complain.

Bigcheeze wrote: »

While it can be argued that lower production costs should benefit the pubs too

Ha! That benefit goes to the brewery shareholders, not to the publican or the drinker. It also gives the brewery some serious muscle when it comes to dealing with competition.

Bigcheeze wrote: »

There is also anecdotal evidence that breweries apply much higher prices to publicans in this jurisdiction than say the UK

Well of course. Because a pub licence also allowed the printing of money until quite recently. Everyone wants a go on the cash cow. The unmovable wholesale price of Guinness is apparently why Ireland doesn't have JD Wetherspoon.

MANUTD99

MANUTD99 wrote: »

So I was in Centra this afternoon looking to finish off my Sunday day in the pub with a couple of bottles of guinness extra stout bottles.( I knew they wouldnt have my favourite O Hara's Stout). I was drinking Galway Hooker in the pub and was going down a treat

Well the the only Irish label that was on sale in the local centra was cans of mouldy bulmers even though I was less than 5 minutes walk away from the Guinness Brewery itself. The rest of selection was made up of the usual Bud, Heineken, Miller and a massive selection of Eastern Euro Beer. I bought 4 bottles of Lech and drinking it now. Don't find it too bad and is fairly cheap.

Whats is the opinion on these brands and is there any hope for up and coming Irish beers to make the shelf in local Spars/Centra and overtake the massed produced rubbish. I mean it's is not as if Irish Beer is at a low standard and I'm sure Irish Craft Breweries are finding success but to me thats not the point.

Personally I would love to go to my local Spar and buy some O Hara's Stout

Discuss!!

Had a email response from Londis today, went as follows

"Thank you for contacting us with your query.
It is great to get feedback from consumers such as yourself.

All ADM Londis stores are individually owned and it is the retailers themselves that decide what to merchandise.
I will contact the store later today and get back to you, but, having been in that store, as far as I can recall it is extremely small and space would be limited. Therefore the store would need to be very careful as to what to market when space is at such a low premium".

MANUTD99

Got another reply today from the actually manager of the Londis. Was really happy with there reply.

"Thank you for bringing up your issues with us. We are more than happy to accommodate our customer’s demands.

I apologise if we ran out of Guinness when you came to the shop last Monday, It is on order at the moment and will have it in tomorrow.

Regarding your request for a couple of beers to be merchandised, I will look at my range of beer and probably drop the slowest brand to accommodate your request. As Ann Marie mentioned, we are very much careful with our merchandising considering the limited space I have in the shop but I would have no problem merchandising 1 or 2 types of the beers you have suggested below. I will contact my suppliers and may have the stocks in late next week".

My apologies again for making you feel unhappy with our range but we will definitely try to resolve this issue as soon as possible. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued custom."

Technocentral

Decent of them to at least reply, I sent Superquinn in Ranelagh a (constructive) email about their lousy choice of beer and never heard back from them.

BeerNut

Technocentral wrote: »

Decent of them to at least reply, I sent Superquinn in Ranelagh a (constructive) email about their lousy choice of beer and never heard back from them.

If I were the manager I'd have invited you in, taken you to the front window, pointed across the road and said "There you go. Bye!"

irish_goat

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Got another reply today from the actually manager of the Londis. Was really happy with there reply.

"Thank you for bringing up your issues with us. We are more than happy to accommodate our customer’s demands.

I apologise if we ran out of Guinness when you came to the shop last Monday, It is on order at the moment and will have it in tomorrow.

Regarding your request for a couple of beers to be merchandised, I will look at my range of beer and probably drop the slowest brand to accommodate your request. As Ann Marie mentioned, we are very much careful with our merchandising considering the limited space I have in the shop but I would have no problem merchandising 1 or 2 types of the beers you have suggested below. I will contact my suppliers and may have the stocks in late next week".

My apologies again for making you feel unhappy with our range but we will definitely try to resolve this issue as soon as possible. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued custom."

Great result. I might email a few local places myself and see if I get anywhere.

Does anyone know if Dunnes(anywhere in the country) ever stock Irish craft beers? There's a pretty big off license section in the Maynooth one with plenty of European lagers but no decent Irish beers.

BeerNut

irish_goat wrote: »

Does anyone know if Dunnes(anywhere in the country) ever stock Irish craft beers? There's a pretty big off license section in the Maynooth one with plenty of European lagers but no decent Irish beers.

They're getting a bit better with the English stuff, but I've not seen anything Irish since they stopped doing the Celtic Brew stuff in about 2004.

MANUTD99

BeerNut wrote: »

They're getting a bit better with the English stuff, but I've not seen anything Irish since they stopped doing the Celtic Brew stuff in about 2004.

"The difference is, we're Irish"

Isn't that the Dunnes slogan they ram down everybody:)

rubadub

My tesco always has O'Haras, and a few others. Searching stout on tesco Oharas is 2.69, beamish is on offer 4pack SAVE 99c Was 5.99 Now 5.00valid from 4/1/2011 until 1/2/2011, 1.25 a can.

Guinness draught Any 6 For 10.00valid from 4/1/2011 until 1/2/2011

A surprisingly well stocked offie is eurospar in dalkey, it is tiny but they cram loads of selection in it.

also in tesco
Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Beer 500Ml Bottle €2.65 (€5.30/l)

blueshed

@ irish goat

your spot on about the Dunnes in Maynooth= it is very poor for craft beer.
you cant move for slabs of bud-millar etc,and a very limited selection of lagers imo.
Tescos is a little better but i find they are out of stock alot of the beers they say they have.
fullers london pride being out of stock last 3 or 4 times i have shopped there.
where do you buy your beer from.
i also checked out the off license beside the roost and just main stream lagers on the shelf.

Where I work there is zero demand for any of the irish beers mentioned in this thread. We stocked Curim a few years ago but it didn't sell at all and was delisted. Last year the only person that asked for an Irish beer that wasn't guinness etc was polish!
If you want to see them on the shelves in the likes of dunnes/tesco don't even bother asking in store about them. Get onto the head office, and keep pestering them.