Brewers are starting to adjust to this new sales situation, if they haven’t already and they need to adjust quickly if they don’t want to be left behind. It won’t be easy for at least the next twelve months (with or without a second wave and an even more draconian lockdown) so hard decisions will be required, and ones which may involve dropping some brands and concentrating on a tighter core product range.

Beers will need to be produced and packaged in larger volumes to make best use of packaging slots and at the same time reducing wastage and costs.

However, as these products will be selling more locally with a much faster turn over than before now seems a good time to ditch the unrealistically long Best Before dates some brewers are putting on their bottles and cans. We start to bring these down gradually, starting with a BB of nine months, and then down to six months, providing the consumer with fresher, tastier beer and ensuring the brewery improves its sales figures and cash flow as consumers also see the benefits of drinking fresh made local beers purchased locally, or even delivered right to their doorsteps.