Carib brews bigger brands, expands from Bahamas to Greece

Carib Brewery – one of the leading members of Ansa McAl's Group of Companies – is known for its multitude of beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, many of which have become well-known products, regionally and internationally.

Recently appointed sector head Peter Hall spoke to Business Day on his future plans for the company’s expansion into craft beers and the future of the reuse of glass bottles by the brewery.

Get to know Peter Hall

The Australian-born Hall has been sector head for Carib’s Brewery for five years now, but has been in the beverage industry for his entire career – around 25 years, 15 of them in the beer business for Heineken in the Netherlands.

Before that, Hall said in an interview with Business Day, he was in the wine and hard liquor sector with the English-based Diageo.

Asked what the move from Heineken to Carib Brewery has been like, Hall said, “It has been great. Working for a family business is very special, and having a focus particularly on a region is also a lot of fun, in terms of really going deep in one region – the Caribbean.”

Culture shock was something he and his family had to face when making the move to TT when it comes to food, schools for his children and TT slang and dialect – Hall said he has picked up about ten per cent of it.

Growths, developments, accomplishments

During his time at the company, he has seen the confirmed acquisition of the Bahamian Beverage and Brewery Co Ltd (BBBCL) on July 7.

He said this acquisition is closely held since breweries like these are not normally available as they are privately-owned.

“A great way to do that is to invest in a partner who can then grow your brands for you, and that’s really the thinking with this investment. So the Bahamas is a strategic market within the Caribbean, it’s a very attractive beer market, and this is a very good way for us to access the Bahamian market through a partner.”

As for Carib Brewery and the BBBCL collaborating on a drink to expand Carib Brewery's beverage line, Hall said it is a possibility.

“They have an excellent lager beer called Sands, so that is something that could make an appearance in the Carib network. It is not necessarily a one-way thing in terms of the brands.”

He added that lager, stout and cider would be taken to be launched in the Bahamas, but there are no plans of exporting Bahamian beer to other countries yet. He added that this acquisition is a significant minority investment, though, so the companies will not be consolidating revenue.

As for the growth of the Carib Brewery, he said it is going nicely and can be seen throughout the breweries in Trinidad, Grenada, St Kitts and Florida. He added that growth is also recorded by exports in the region.

As for profits, there are no specific numbers for Carib Brewery itself, as it is bundled with its packaging sector and the construction business – separate entities to the brewery. But that group of businesses saw a five per cent revenue increase in the first financial quarter, Carib Brewery being the biggest contributor to the increase.

The best-selling products, he said, are Carib, followed by Stag, which surpasses the other brands by a long shot.

As for the recently launched Eagle Ray, Hall said the reception has been good, but it would need to overtake too many products the third-rated beverage after Carib and Stag – the top-rated beverages by a long way.

“Eagle Ray is very innovative, and it’s unexpected as well. The hard seltzer category is different, because it’s very gentle on flavour. We think of it as sparkling alcoholic water with a splash of flavour.”

He added, “It’s not for people who are looking for a very sweet drink, to be honest, and we know in general, the Caribbean palate does tend towards sweet. However, there’s a significant minority of people that don’t like so sweet and the thing everyone likes is low calories and natural ingredients, so it’s a huge factor for the hard seltzers.”

Hall said its mere 80 calories and the all-natural ingredients used in Eagle Ray tend to attract people, especially if they were to compare the calories found in a glass of wine or cocktail – upwards of 200 calories.

Hall predicts, though, that he does not see Eagle Ray surpassing Carib, Stag, Guinness or Caribe Hard Cider in the next few years to become a high-ranking beverage. Despite this, it still provides valuable revenue and shows the company’s innovative skills, he added.

As for collaborations with artisan breweries, Hall said there are no plans to do so.

“We have craft beers of our own. Six years ago we acquired a craft brewery in Florida – which is where I am sitting today – and when we made that acquisition we got a beautiful craft brand called Hurricane Reef that came with it, and we are now brewing Hurricane Reef in the islands as well.”

This is how Carib Brewery is entering the craft beer industry, with this IPA (India pale ale).

In the last three months, Hall said, the brewery began brewing Carib Lager under licence in Canada and Greece. This partnership with breweries in these countries is meant to satisfy demand and reduce cost and environmental impact.

Carib Brewery’s CSR

Since there are more calls to protect the environment, given the short and long-term effects of pollution, Carib Brewery will always retain its policy of paying 30 cents for every glass bottle returned.

“Reuse of glass is very important to us. We’re now the only people offering a returnable system...the other beverage companies in TT do not allow for returns of the bottles. So number one for us is preserving that system.”

Hall said the company’s mantra is "reduce, reuse and recycle," and has found itself mainly in the "reuse" space.

“We know that reusing is significantly superior to recycling, so number one for us, we really want to increase our use of returnable glass, because it is very important.”

So far, the TT brewery has received 4.3 million returned bottles.

“We receive 85 per cent of our bottles. It can go higher than that and we are working towards it. If we look at the different channels, different types of customers, the highest return comes from bars and restaurants because it’s really easy to do, since more than likely, you will consume that beverage on the premises.”

He added that that the company is considering collecting and reusing bottles from other companies as well.

As for other social initiatives, Hall said the recent Stag campaign against gender-based violence was extremely successful. Stag is famous for its slogan, "Stag. A man's beer," which has been around since 1972. There were no reported backlash for this long-standing slogan, but in 2018, Carib Brewery issued an apology for its "hit them for six" advertisement promoting that year's Caribbean Premier League as organisations said it encouraged domestic violence.

“Stag has, we think, unrivalled access to men, and we wanted to use that access to send a message. That message was heard and got a lot of attention.”