Thornbridge, the Derbyshire-based brewer and pub operator, is eyeing further expansion in its international bars estate, MCA has learnt.
Chief executive Simon Webster told MCA that in addition to its sites in the Netherlands and Tokyo, the group was in talks with partners in Estonian capital Tallin and Seoul, Souht Korea, as well as continuing to search for a suitable site in Helsinki.
The group, invested £2m in expanding its brewery and adding a bottling line last year, and Webster said further work would take place this year that would ultimately see capacity doubled compared to the start of 2017.
He said he expected the growth of “better lagers” to continue in 2017, with Lukas now its second best-selling product, after its Jaipur IPA.
Webster said the group continued to expand its partnerships in on-trade – having worked with Mitchells & Butlers over Christmas and with Fuller’s to strengthen its position in London and the South East.
Webster said: “We see a lot more scope in the on-trade and there’s definitely more that casual dining can do in the better beer space. Customers are expecting to see good quality beer on offer wherever they go out and I think the casual dining guys have really woken up to that.”
On international expansion, he said: “The requests have kept on coming and there are a plenty of talks ongoing. We took the decision a while back that we wouldn’t seek a franchise model but that we’d work with partners across the world. The bar in Tokyo was opened by someone we already knew and that we knew had a lot of respect for the brand.”
However, Webster said there were no immediate plans to expand the group’s eight-strong UK pub estate.
He said: “We have a good estate within 15 miles of the brewery but don’t have any aspirations just now to grow that further. Our investment and aspirations are really in brewing.”
He said that while exports currently make up 25% of sales, the rapid growth in UK business could see that shrink this year.
On beer trends for 2017, he said: “We have seen the emergence of soured and 2016 was probably the year that went into the mainstream. That will continue. IPA continues to boom and has now become the go-to beer style for a lot of people.
“In last 18 months we have had a lot of success with lager, and that’s an interesting area to watch – it’s come full circle in many ways. You have some people looking at lager with new-found respect and others wanting more from the drink they have always chosen.”
