A recent survey of Cask Marque pubs found that 81% of the pubs had positive growth in cask ale sales in 2015 and 79% said that the Cask Marque award had brought extra customers. An impressive 94% of pubs surveyed offered ‘Try before you buy’ at all times.
When asked why they joined Cask Marque the key responses were given as:
• To improve beer quality 33%
• To increase beer sales 20%
• The prestige of the award 21%
81% said their objectives had been achieved.
Not surprisingly 94% therefore felt it was value for money and 98% would recommend it to other licensees.
On marketing they were very aware of the CaskFinder app with 73% having seen consumers scan the QR code on the certificate and 89% of visitors had purchased a drink. The most popular free POS were the pump clip stickers (49%) followed by bar runners (29%).
When talking about the assessors visits 90% agreed that they took time to help improve beer quality and 53% said they had resolved the issue on the day of the visit.
There was also good news for Cask Ale Week as 64% of licenses surveyed will be supporting the event.
Independent research by Enterprise Inns showed that Cask Marque pubs within the estate had grown total beer sales by 4.4% as against non Cask Marque pubs and a regional brewer put the figure within their estate as 6%.
Paul Nunny, Director of Cask Marque, commented “With renewal rates at 87%, without adjusting for people who have left the trade, it is not surprising that the survey was positive about Cask Marque. Beer quality, staff knowledge and passion are so important for the cask sector and the dividend is that pubs who can deliver grow their total beer sales.”
Facts on Cask Marque:
• Founded in 1997 as a not for profit organisation to promote the quality of beer in pubs and grow the cask category.
• The survey took place in June 2016 with the split of replies being Managed 43% Tenants/Leased 43% and Free Trade 14%
• 9,800 pubs currently have the Cask Marque award.
• Cask Marque are the No 1 provider of Cellar Management Training.
• The CaskFinder app, which is free to download and is used 60,000 times a month to find Cask Marque pubs.
• The Ale Trail has 23,000 participants who visit 3,500 pubs a week to scan the QR code on the certificate. The lead ale trailer has visited 3,450 pubs.