Camra drive to promote local brews (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Camra drive to promote local brews

10:13am Monday 6th July 2009 in

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Breweries across the district are backing a drive for pubs to sell locally-brewed ale.

The Bradford branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has announced it is joining the LocAle, a national drive for pubs to stock at least one ale brewed within a 20-mile radius.

It was started after a growth in demand for local produce, protecting local economies and an awareness of the need to cut transportation, which causes pollution.

Adrian Mellow, Bradford CAMRA LocAle campaign co-ordinator, said: “It started off in a branch in Nottingham and there is at least 50 of the 200 branches in the country signed up to the campaign by the start of this year.

“We have had about 15 pubs sign up so far and that is only really the ones that CAMRA members go in regularly, so I think we will get a whole lot more.”

Paul Simpson, managing director of Saltaire Brewery in Dockfield Road, Shipley, said the campaign would “open door to some and shut doors to others” because it would mean a loss of trade from pubs outside the 20-mile radius, which had joined similar schemes in their own areas.

However, he said: “We totally support pubs farther afield, who will politely say ‘we don’t want your beer as its not local’ but as a brewer in the Saltaire, Shipley and Baildon area, the benefits of joining the campaign far outweigh the negatives.”

Mr Simpson, whose company has an £800,000 turnover and sells 17,000 pints of beer a year, added: “There is a move towards anti-globalisation and also green issues involved with transporting long distances. The real ale market is buoyant at the moment because people want beer brewed locally. That is certainly what most microbreweries are finding.”

Dan Gent, co-owner of Salamander brewery in Dudley Hill, Bradford, said: “I think the LocAle campaign is a good idea.

“I would certainly be pleased if more local pubs were selling more local beer.”

A CAMRA spokesman said: “Stocking a local beer can enable pubs to differentiate themselves from others, thereby gaining them new customers and increasing their beer sales. Stocking locally brewed real ale will also give their businesses the edge over supermarkets and off licences selling low-cost mass-market lagers.”