Those of you who visited the BFBi Pavillion at the recent Brau 2023 exhibition in Nuremberg this year wil have sampled a great range of beers from the UK.
With the challenges of post Brexit export into Europe (our Government does not seem to appreciate that, to export, they need to put an efficient and cost effective export process in place….) we called out for support and Jeremy Duxbury of UK Beers stepped up, together with Ocean Blue Logistics.
UK Beers (UKB AB) was set up as a side venture to our export business after Black Sheep asked if I could supply a fixed address of a limited company in Europe for Black Sheep labels. This was done and we are based in Sweden.
UK Beers are, primarily, importers of beer from the UK to Scandinavia through Jorvik Estates and Wicked Wine. They currently buy from over 100 UK breweries or represent them in tender opportunities towards the government alcohol shops in Sweden. The buyer at Systembolaget is a close associate who tends to approach UK Beers as the only British importer into Sweden when she is designing tenders to see what there is on offer.  They have secured over 85% of the UK tenders over the last 24 months and have more products going into the stores this year
The FBO (Food Beverage Operator) compliance requires a physical address of a European based limited company, which consumers may write to with any questions or issues they may have with any given UK food/beer product. UK Beers decided that it was unlikely that anyone was going to put pen to paper these days, despite that being the legal requirement the physical address covers, and so far they have been proved right, all communication has come via the online form on the website.
UK Beers created an online page where individuals can contact the breweries via a contact form – www.ukbeers.eu. This has generated both the odd complaint and potential trade enquiries, which they hoped it might, as the list of breweries does represent companies ready for export.
The main reason UK Beers is being chosen by breweries is simply due to the fact that many EU distributors tend not to want the name of another distributor in a neighbouring member state on their label and would therefore request their own version, this then being an extra cost for the breweries,  UKB AB is not presented as a distributor and, so far, European distributors are happy that it acts as the FBO.
Ultimately, the distributor is responsible for label compliance in any given market although they do stay up to date with the individual member state requirements and are happy to check labels for compliance for any brewery who asks them to do so.  Most breweries they work with are now using a standard label that works for the EU and the UK. There is no harm in having UK consumers perceive a beer to be heading all over Europe when they glance at a bottle or can bought in the UK.
They charge an annual fee of £195 which allows the breweries to use the contact details on all their EU/UK labelling
For those breweries who are dipping their toes in export for the first time or for those who have had issues with transport, they can also recommend a logistics partner with a proven track
For support or futher information contact Jeremy Duxbury on admin@ukbeers.eu
