Carib Brewery Expands Its UK Portfolio With Shandy Range

29 Apr 2013 --- One of the Caribbean’s biggest beer companies, the Carib Brewery, is expanding its drinks offering in the UK with the introduction of its popular Shandy Carib range. Combining a light and refreshing lager with classically tropical tastes, the brewer is releasing two variants – Ginger and Sorrel, which celebrate the unique flavours associated with the sunshine islands.

Shandy Carib has a 1.2% ABV and is a delicious solution to the growing global popularity of low-alcohol drinks. Research suggests that although low-alcohol drinks are performing well globally, the rise amongst European consumers is being driven by a growing demand from women, an improved attitude towards health and responsible drinking, and the rising cost of strong alcoholic drinks.

Additionally, the radically improved taste and flavour offerings now available in the category, which have previously turned consumers off, is helping to attract lapsed and new consumers back to the segment. Low alcoholic drinks continue to perform well delivering 40% growth across the retail sector, and growing even faster for some supermarkets .

The Caribbean food and drink category is one of the strongest performing world food growth areas, with Caribbean and tropical drinks delivering 21% yoy growth. Shandy Carib will join the category’s drinks offering and sit alongside the brewer’s flagship product, Carib Lager, which is also growing rapidly at 15% yoy.

Wanis Ltd, a specialist Caribbean and world food and drinks distributor, is Carib Brewery’s distribution partner for the UK and Europe.

Wanis sales director John Payne said about the introduction of the new range: “The launch of Shandy Carib to the UK market is a no-brainer. The product tastes fantastic, the Caribbean drinks category is one of the fastest growing, and tropical drinks are more popular than ever. On top of that, low-ABV drinks and world beers are helping to deliver value to the category and drive up sales.

“Very rarely do so many plus points come together in one product, and that’s what we have in this range. I urge any retailer looking to grow their take-home and bottled beer sales to seriously look at introducing Shandy Carib to their aisles. It ticks so many consumer boxes, that it really can help to add vitality to the category and liven up sales.