Thursday, March 31, 2016

Lights, CAMERA, action...



I read today that the consumer group, "The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMERA)" has sent a communication to its 177,000 members in order to find out what they think about its purpose and strategy; effectively the leadership of that organisation feel that its original objectives (set 45 years ago) have been achieved, the UK having gone from 135 breweries in the country to 1,500 now and a much wider availability of "real" ale in most places around the country. With the "craft beer" explosion going on now too, the time seem ripe to establish a new purpose and direction for an organisation that (if they're honest) has an image of being populated with pompous bearded beer laggards, Google "Viz comic real-ale twats" for more on that (see example above).

My vote would go to some kind of broader consumer focus on pubs, specifically, how we can stem the alarming rate of closures around the country and also how diversity could be encouraged, perhaps come up with some alternatives to the "brewery tied" scenarios that seem to constrain what you can buy where etc.

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