Animée comes in three flavours – clear filtered, crisp rose and zesty lemon – and includes an ‘anti-bloat’ ingredient. But Stroobandt, who works at the F&B partnership, thinks the promotion of ‘girly beer’ can in fact have the opposite effect.
Alienating female beer-drinkers
“I often see brewers come up with a new fancy little beer aimed at women, in a pink bottle or whatever; but you wouldn’t do this with wine,” said Stroobandt, speaking at last month’s R200 Awards organised by Restaurant magazine .
“Too many people see beer as being something bitter and for men, but pubs shouldn’t alienate women. The key thing is to talk to them, not talk down to them.
“It’s not a question of all of a pub’s customers liking all beers, but the key thing is to talk to women, but you mustn’t talk down to them. You have to work at different combinations, try pairing it with chocolate or something like humus, to counteract the bitter taste.”
Starting tomorrow, Molson Coors will embark on a three-week sampling tour for Animée beer. The ‘Hurray for Animée’ team will be visiting locations close to on-trade stockists in cities across the UK, targeting a core 18 to 35-year-old female audience and delivering Animée’s message that ‘there’s always something to celebrate’.
Stroobandt also believes restaurants across the UK ‘aren’t giving beer the respect it deserves’ and has given his top tips of beer and food matching to increase a business's footfall .
Huge potential for brewers and pub operators
Molson Coors isn't alone in trying to lure the female demographic. Carlsberg’s Eve brand, which also recently launched, is a 3.1 per cent beer-style fruit spritzer tailored for women.
While beer sales have been steadily declining over the past few years, statistics from the Bittersweet Partnership show that just 13 per cent of beer drinkers are women, which when compared to 25 per cent in the USA and 36 per cent in Northern Ireland, demonstrates there is huge potential for brewers and operators to exploit the market.
A recent Camra survey also revealed that half of regular pub goers would like to see more low-strength beers , which can often be lighter and have a lower calorie content, on offer.
But can female beer-drinkers slow the decline in beer sales? Check out BigHospitality’s exclusive video to find out…
2 comments (Comments are now closed)
We don't need pink beer - we need craft beer
I find that the complaint of "bitter beer" are people who haven't ventured past the big brand beers. Want to get women into beer? Introduce them to craft beer and all of the variety of flavors within those endless possibilities. This is nothing more than "dumbing down" beer for women - rather it needs to be made more intelligent.
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Posted by Elle Potter
07 December 2011 | 16h26
Women Enjoying Beer--They Really Do
Mark Stroobandt hits it on the mark, especially with the comment of talking to women. In the United States, Ginger Johnson of WomenEnjoyingBeer.com says the same thing. If you invite women into the conversation and talk to them about flavor then they will come to the beer enjoying world. It seems as if these beer companies have not asked women about what they want from their beer. Instead they are simply assuming that women want something that is really not beer. Again, Mark is right--winemakers don't dumb down their beverage for women. There's no reason that brewers have to do so. They simply need to meet the female market where they are at by providing education, value, and social opportunities around beer.
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Posted by Larry Chase
07 December 2011 | 05h09