Estrella's Mediterranean flavor is now produced in central England
Damm officially opens its first production and packaging plant outside the Iberian Peninsula.
Bedford (United Kingdom)The Mediterranean has arrived in the heart of England, and not because of climate change. At least the taste of the Mediterranean, or one of its most famous products worldwide, Estrella Damm, has settled in one of the logistics nerve centers of the British Isles. The historic Catalan brewery, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year, inaugurated its first production plant outside the Iberian Peninsula this Thursday. The chosen location was the town of Bedford, between London and Birmingham, where for the past three years the company has invested just over eighty million euros to restore and renovate an old and traditional brewery, the Eagle Brewery, now renamed The Damm Eagle Brewery. The objective is to consolidate the growing expansion in the British market, the second most important for Damm, within the transport sectors. premium world lager in a highly competitive environment.
The plant currently only produces cans and kegs (20, 30, and 50 liters), with an annual packaging capacity of 1.8 million hectoliters, with the goal of reaching two million by 2027. It doesn't just package Damm's various products. There are also agreements to manufacture and can Kirin Ichiban, a Japanese beer, Brookling, by Carlsberg, while packaging the production of a small brewery in the north of England, Northern Moonk, from Leeds.
Of Damm Eagle's 1.8 million hectoliter capacity, 800,000 will be beer and the rest other soft drinks. Juan González, the company's international business director, believes that acquiring the plant is "the most logical and next step after having been working in the British market since the 1980s." In fact, Damm barrels have been packaged at the Eagle Brewery since 2010. Currently, the British market consumes 500,000 hectoliters.
According to González, Damm aspires to become the "most important independent group" of beers and other beverages in the United Kingdom. Its roots in the central part of the islands are also a strategic commitment for the future, given that the country is "a hub which can supply many markets in Central Europe, Northern Europe and export to the United States."
An unexpected success
One of the most representative cases of the company's success in the United Kingdom is the case of Damm Lemon, a surprising success for the company itself, after its launch this year in the British market. "Suddenly, the consumer has discovered flavored beers," González also comments. "We haven't done anything, it hasn't been the result of any developed strategy, but rather we have detected a consumer need and thanks to the depth of our portfolio we have, we have been able to meet the demand."
This success of Damm in the United Kingdom also responds to a change in habits among beer lovers in the country. Because in recent years, the British consumer has been moving away from traditional beers—the bitter and the royal at of a more bitter taste – to embrace the lager European, lighter and more refreshing. Cultural and commercial factors come into play.
New generations prefer cold, smooth, and easy-drinking beers, associated with an urban and cosmopolitan lifestyle. Globalization and the marketing of brands such as Estrella Damm – the taste of the Mediterranean. Mediterraneanly – Peroni or Heineken have consolidated this modern "continental" image of these lagerThe test is the search for similar baits, like the one behind the Madrid launch, from the multinational Molson Coors, which in October 2020 burst into the British and Irish markets, first in pubs and restaurants and since March 2022 also in supermarkets. Estrella, the quintessential Barcelona beer, has a competitor born as if it were the beer of Madrid de las cañas, but which has no relation to the city, and which, in fact, is impossible to see or drink in the capital of Spain.
In any case, industrial standardization has reduced the supply of those authentic ale British and has favored the mass production of lager. Consumption has also shifted from the traditional pub to bars, festivals and homes, where bottled or canned beers are a better fit. The aesthetics of the cold pint has ended up prevailing over the typical cellar temperature of the royal wings, between 10 and 13 degrees. However, the rise of the movement craft beer A certain prestige has returned to the British tradition, although reinterpreted with a more creative and international approach.
