The facts behind cask ale

As pub closures reach six per day, licensees are being encouraged to turn to cask ale as a potential lifeline that could lift their business out of the current trading downturn.

Cask ale's share of the on-trade ale category now stands at 44%, up from 39% three years ago.

Not only is cask ale outperforming the market, pubs with a good cask offer are faring better than others in the 'perfect storm' faced by the industry, according to The Intelligent Choice report.

Here are the facts:

• Cask ale is outperforming the beer market, with sales down by just -5% compared to -9.3% for total beer (y/e December 2008). Cask ale increased its share of the total on-trade beer market to 13%.

• Cask ale can only be enjoyed in pubs, making it a genuinely unique draw that can persuade consumers to drink out rather than in their home.

• Around seven million people in the UK drink cask ale regularly. Of these, 85% are men, but the remaining 15% equates to half a million women.

• Regular cask ale drinkers are relatively upmarket and affluent: 67% of them are in social class ABC1 (compared to 55% of the UK population) and they earn an income well above the national average.

• There are 640,000 occasional cask ale drinkers. They are younger than regular drinkers – the average age is 41 - and more affluent. Occasional cask drinkers favour known ale brands, though they try new ones and are prepared to pay more for quality. They're also keen pub visitors and enjoy drinking beer with a meal.

• CAMRA membership increased last year by 7.3% and experienced record growth during January of this year. It now stands at close to 100,000 members.

• Once people have tried cask ale, they stick with it – in fact, it has a higher 'conversion' rate – 40% - than many alcoholic drinks. Among women, 44% of those who taste cask ale go on to become regular or occasional cask drinkers.

Related Articles:

• 13 Jul 2009 - Summer offers 'fantastic opportunity' for cask ale