EDINBURGH-based beer company Innis & Gunn has reported a 62% rise in turnover for 2011 to £7.5 million as it made inroads into the booming craft beer scene in the United States.
The company, whose beer is produced by Greene King, said it has continued to expand with sales up 30% year-on-year in 2012 to the end of August. Although it did not disclose its profit numbers, the brewer said it gets 77% of its revenues, some £5.7m, from overseas, with Canada its largest market.
During the course of 2011, however, the US was the biggest contributor to growth, with volumes up 178% in that market.
Innis & Gunn said the introduction of a beer aged in rum casks, and the sale of its Original brand on draught in the UK, had further supported growth.
Innis & Gunn's founder and chief executive Dougal Sharp said: "We have built the right infrastructure to deal with the challenges inherent with importing to and trading in the US.
"Over the past year, we have strengthened our sales force and established good relationships with our first-tier distributors to make sure Innis & Gunn is a key player in their brands' portfolio."
The US is particularly lucrative to the company because the craft beer segment, typically made by small, independent brewers, currently makes up 6% of the market.
Innis & Gunn's products are now distributed in 20 US states, most of them on the east coast, although they are also available in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the UK, Innis & Gunn saw a 33% rise in sales in both volume and value terms in 2011. UK sales director Crawford Sinclair said: "The launch of Original Draught at the start of the year combined with strong packaged sales saw our on-trade business almost double in size.
"This expansion, combined with consistent growth in the off-trade, puts Innis & Gunn in a very strong position as we are able to meet the needs of the trade and the consumer going forward."
Innis & Gunn employs 22 people and has three core products in its range: Original, Blonde and Rum Cask, as well as many seasonal and Limited Edition beers.
It is available in seven countries: the UK, US, Canada, Sweden, Ireland, Finland and Norway.
The original Innis & Gunn beer was born out of an experiment by Mr Sharp's then employer to develop a whisky aged in ale-soaked casks.
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