James Morgan on why he wanted to bring craft beers back to East London
Starting your own brewery is one thing, bringing back to life an old institution in the heart of east London is another, but as James Morgan explains there is plenty of life not only in the Old Truman Brewery but the growing range of craft beer it is producing.
What do you see the main consumer trend driving the on-trade beer category?
Consumers are looking for more choice when they go to a bar. They are looking to order something different. It has gone beyond just looking for something craft. It is across the board now with beers. They are certainly no longer just looking for a local cask ale.
How has Truman Brewery changed?
When we fist started out we was fortunate in that a lot of operators wanted to support local and independent breweries. People like us, Meantime and Camden Town have all been very successful. But as craft beer becomes more mainstream there is a bigger question mark over their relevance and provenance.
How do you see the future for craft beer?
It is here to stay. You only need to look at America. Their craft beer sales have reached 20% of the total market. We are seeing that in the UK and I can see it become 10% of the market here. The US does not have the tied system that we do. You also have to remember we are 10 years behind what has happened with craft beer in the US.
How big can you be and still be called craft?
It is a good question and the word craft has become such a loaded term. We have to diversify. We have to look at ways to grow. But you can potentially see craft brewers become the market leaders.
And for operators like yourself?
We can expect to see more of the big brewers looking to sign up smaller players. It not only allows them to diversify but it also gives them access to their account base. It was a smart move by SAB Miller, for example, to buy Meantime. We can also expect to see greater consolidation of regional breweries and regional beers.
How do you see your point of difference?
We have got a good heritage story. We are located in such a dynamic area in the heart of East London. We are seeing continued growth and grew 120% last year.
And the future?
We are on track to grow between £20m and £25m over the next five years. We have a turnover of £3.5m now and see that growth coming in developing the national sales side of our business. That we can do through regional wholesalers. We are not currently in the off-trade and are looking at that as well. We also need to increase our distribution in London.
How do you think your customers will react to you moving in to the off-trade?
You can build loyalty with customers through a retailer. It depends which retailer you work with. You have to have a point of difference. It will help us build our customer base. We are also looking at online where we think you can have proper engagement with consumes. But they will all bring different sets of challenges and need different skills to deal with them.
How about export?
It is about building the Truman heartland in the UK before looking at overseas.
