Arran Brewery deal to distribute German beers

Deputy Business Editor

Monday 17 December 2012

ARRAN Brewery has sealed a deal to distribute the range of German beers produced by Hofbrauhaus.

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Greig Cameron Deputy Business Editor

The Munich brewery, founded in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria, attracts around 1.9 million visitors a year to its beer hall and sells 30 million litres of its products around the world.

Now the range – Hofbrau Original, Hofbrau Dunkel, Munchner Weisse, Hafbrau Schwarze Weisse and Hofbrau Octoberfest – will be available in Scotland from January in bottles and on draft.

In recent months, Arran has announced the takeover of Isle of Skye Brewery and the development of the former Rosebank Distillery in Falkirk into a bottling hall, visitor attraction and brewery.The company is also planning to open a number of pubs, with the first outlet, in Hope Street in Glasgow, scheduled to be up and running in January. The tie-up with Hofbrauhaus will also see Arran and Skye beers being exported into Germany.The Scottish firm will use Hofbrauhaus's distribution contacts to allow it to be stocked in supermarkets in Germany.In the longer term, both businesses will send tankers of beer to be bottled in Scotland or Germany using their own facilities rather than bottling in their own country and paying higher shipping costs.Gerald Michaluk, Arran chief executive, said: "I am very pleased to be working with such a well-known name in the brewing industry and there is a great synergy between our traditional Arran and Skye ales and the Hofbrauhau's excellent quality lagers and wisse beers. "This fills a gap in our range by providing us with a first class premium lager offering. Beers will be initially imported, but in future, the plans are to import the beers in bulk and bottle them at the Rosebank Brewery and Distillery."Andreas Straub, export manager of Hofbrau Munchen, said "I am delighted to be working with the team from the Arran Brewery and the Skye Brewery, and together we will bring the most traditional of German beers to the UK market."To have it marketed by two of Scotland's iconic breweries, who, like us, believe in provenance, quality and tradition, is very good news." Mr Michaluk also confirmed Arran has begun exports into Japan with much of that concentrated on the burgeoning craft beer bar scene in Tokyo. He said: "Our distributor is testing the market and we are hopeful volumes there will increase."Haufbrauhaus brews to the strict Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516, which states only natural ingredients can be used in the brewing process.Famous visitors during its long history include composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, American President John F Kennedy and Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev.Haufbrauhaus franchises have sprung up around the world including Australia, Sweden, Italy, South Korea, Thailand and several outlets in the United States.

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Arran Brewery deal to distribute German beers

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