Saturday 29 February 2020

Supping with the devil?


CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale has landed itself in a real pickle after rejecting a motion put forward for debate at its forthcoming Annual General Meeting in York. The motion, proposed by Scarborough Branch, would have prevented CAMRA providing or promoting discount schemes, such as the sixty vouchers, sent each year, to all CAMRA members, for use at a selection of large pub and bar chains.

The chains include JD Wetherspoon – the original sponsors of the voucher scheme, Stonegate Inns, Brains, Castle Rock plus Amber Taverns managed pubs.  A total of 1,550 pubs are included in the scheme, and with each voucher worth 50p off a pint of real ale, cider or perry, this amounts to an annual benefit of £30.

Scarborough Branch member Phil Saltonstall, who owns Brass Castle Brewery in Malton, proposed the motion, and is critical of CAMRA’s refusal to debate the issue, but all motions put forward at the Campaign’s AGM  have to be vetted by the Conference Procedures Committee.

So rather than allow this important motion to be scrutinised and debated by the membership, CAMRA have removed it from the order paper.  An appeal has been lodged, but will not be heard until the night before the AGM, a move which many will view as an attempt to stifle debate.

Unfortunately for CAMRA, the issue is not going away, and the Procedures Committee's heavy-handed action has only inflamed passions over what is already an emotive subject. 110 breweries, from all over the UK, have now signed an open letter in support of the motion, and are calling on CAMRA to end its use of discount vouchers and tacit support of large pub chains.  

They say CAMRA’s current policy undermines real ale and pushes drinkers towards corporate chains, to the detriment of smaller pubs and independent free-houses. The brewers argue that the practice sets unrealistic expectations among new real ale drinkers, damages small breweries who cannot produce to the scales the big chains require, and disrespects the craft that goes into producing real ale.

The signatories are from a wide and diverse range of  respected independent breweries, and include many brewers of CAMRA-judged award-winning beers. Several of these companies are past winners of CAMRA’s prestigious National Champion Beer of Britain. More breweries are coming forward in support, making the Campaign’s attempt to shut down the debate on this important issue, before it even started, look all the more foolish.

In the letter, they say: “…it is dangerously inconsistent for CAMRA to promote real ale as the pinnacle of the brewer’s art while simultaneously making it the cheapest beer on the bar. Inevitably, new drinkers will be led to have little regard for the quality of real ale. The policy also undermines CAMRA’s public image, as it promotes that which it was established to overhaul: a limited range of beers from large breweries, served-up cheaply by pub chains.”

The brewers go on to say: “CAMRA will win more support from the wider brewing and pub industries when it stops driving people to chain pubs for cheap beer, and when it instead respects real ale, respect the pubs that showcase it, and respects the brewers who produce it.”

There is much in the motion, and the support letter that I agree with, and I have argued in the past for CAMRA to distance itself from such discount schemes. The predictable response was that Spoons vouchers help people on low incomes, pensioners or the unemployed, but CAMRA should be something more than an organisation that facilitates cheap beer for its members.

Writing on the Brass Castle Brewery website, motion proposer, Phil Saltonstall said, I know not everyone will agree with our motion, but many do and there was an excellent opportunity to have the debate in April at the AGM. It is infuriating that CAMRA has sought to stifle this debate, and in doing so it shows a blindness to the huge impact this has on real ale, breweries and publicans, and CAMRA’s public image.” 

“CAMRA itself cannot be both the champion of good-quality, great tasting cask beer and the promoter of bargain-basement cheap pints; as to accommodate price discounting, some pub companies insist that brewers provide real ale at a crazily low price.”

You can read Phil’s statement in full here, along with the open letter and the current list of signatories, but in the meantime, what are the odds of CAMRA backing down and at lease allowing the issue to be debated in an open and honest manner? The group haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory over this matter, and their incoherent policy on discounting undermines its credibility in virtually all other campaigning areas.

CAMRA may fear that, if the motion was approved, they would see a reduction in membership levels, but the organisation cannot exist solely to boost its own numbers, while the fate of real ale is left to its own devices. All indicators suggest that cask is in serious decline, so now more than ever the genre needs a self-respecting and energetic Campaign for Real Ale. 

An organisation that jumps into bed with groups such as Wetherspoon’s and Stonegate cannot claim to be acting in an impartial and independent manner, and lays itself open to the criticism already put forward.

15 comments:

John Clarke said...

It wasn't the NE's 'heavy handed action' but rather he totally independent Conference Procedures Committee that put the kibosh on this.

Paul Bailey said...

Post duly updated John, but this committee, that most members have never heard of, seems to wield a disproportionately large amount of power.

They appear to have cocked-up, big time over this issue, so how accountable is this shadowy group?

John Clarke said...

'Shadowy group'? We are on the fringes of conspiracy theories here, I think.

The Conference Procedures Committee (CPC) has been around for year. There are elections for its membership and it makes an annual report to every Members' Weekend. It's role has (as I am sure you can imagine) been subject to considerable scrutiny on Discourse in the context of this particular issue.

Here's a link where you can see who's on it: https://camra.org.uk/beer-festivals-events/conference/

Here's a link to the Internal Policy Document. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/www1-camra/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/18101709/CAMRA-Internal-Policy-Document-2019-2020.pdf

The role of the CPC is at 1.12 to 1.12.2 inclusive. I think the discount voucher motion fell down because the proposers hadn't gone through the correct channels (that it so say raising the issue with the NE first and seeing what sort of response they got) before tabling it.

None of this is new.

retiredmartin said...

Getting away from the process, which I think is fine, I agree with the thrust of your points.

"CAMRA cannot exist just to increase membership numbers".

I didn't join CAMRA as a life member to get a cheaper pint than pub regulars who aren't members. I do, however, expect CAMRA to support the enjoyment of an affordable pint of ordinary cask, and i.e. The Ben Wilkinson point on that thread.

Worth a heated debate in Burton!

electricpics said...

If every member uses their vouchers that's £5.7 million straight off mainly Wetherspoons and then Stonegate's bottom lines, and they pass that cost and the cost of any other promotions they're running on cask straight back to their suppliers who are already on extremely tight margins. Most of the brewers supplying them only do so to give themselves economies of scale allowing profitability in the wider free trade.

Affordability is one thing, but undermining the brewers producing the thing you're supposed to be supporting just to gain and retain more members is just bonkers.

John Clarke said...

Yes - but every member doesn't use all of their vouchers. It seems that the best guess is that 25% of the vouchers are used.

I think the effect on the bottom line of these companies is minimal to be honest. If all of these vouchers disappeared overnight it is, I think, fantasy to assume they would then start paying more for their beer. My guess, and it's no more than that, is that the prices these companies are prepared to pay is entirely unrelated to these vouchers. They strike a hard bargain and will continue to do so, regardless.

Paul Bailey said...

Fortunately John, I am not on Discourse (life's too short for that). I am also not particularly interested in CAMRA's internal procedures. What I am interested in is the fall-out from this PR disaster, and the poor image of CAMRA it projects to both pub goers and the licensed trade in general.

The Yorkshire Post has already covered the story, and it will only be a matter of time before the national press gets hold of it; providing they can tear themselves away from running scare stories about Coronavirus!

I find your guess that only 25% of the vouchers are used, rather strange, as I would guesstimate a much higher figure than that. Aren't the used vouchers either returned to CAMRA HQ, by the vendors participating in the scheme, or accounted for in some other way? The whole thing seems extremely lax and poorly controlled if this is not the case.

Paul Bailey said...

Yes Martin, definitely worthy of discussion in Burton. A far more desirable topic than Coronavirus, or that other issue that won't go away!

electricpics, the other problem with committing a large chunk of your production to major players such as JDW or Stonegate, is they have got you by the proverbial short and curlies. Things are OK until your major customer demands an additional discount, or pulls the plug on you altogether. They may well cut you off anyway if you don't agree to demands for a price reduction.

There are dozens of stories of small companies investing thousands in order to meet major contracts with the big boys, only to be told their business is no longer required. The numbers who survive such a blow to their turnover and cash-flow, are not very high.

As the title of the post insinuates, be very wary when you sup with the devil!

Ian Worden said...

I think the 25% usage figure is probably about right but JDW should know as they have a voucher button on their tills (at least locally). It obviously isn't a significant enough figure to be included in their annual accounts.

As far as new small breweries are concerned, too many come into business with plenty of brewing expertise but not much financial expertise. Having enough capital is essential, which I think is part of the Thornbridge success. You also need to diversify sales as fast as possible and know your customers' policies. JDW is a good start but only as a springboard to something better.

It is very interesting that brewing is usually avoided by private equity investors.

retiredmartin said...

How many breweries actually have significant contracts with Spoons?

They sell more Greene King and Doom Bar than anyone else, a fair bit of Fullers and Adnams, but I can't say i see many regular beers on the bar otherwise, and mostly it's all seasonals and one offs. I'm surprised if they prop up that many micros.

Paul Bailey said...

Ian, I agree with your point about too many small breweries being under-capitalised, but as a significant number of them will have started out as “hobby breweries,” this isn’t really surprising.

All the more reason for not committing too much of their production to the like of JDW and Stonegate.

Martin, it is probably eighteen months since I last set foot in one of Tim’s barns, but as far as I recall, I have rarely, if ever seen Fuller’s being stocked in either of our two local Spoons.

Tandleman said...

Sorry Paul, but on this one John Clarke is 100% right. This is macks of special pleading and bears no relation at all to the price that breweries (can)charge for their beer.

These are deep waters, but I rather think the low price of (some) cask beer is (inter alia)that too many fishes are swimming in not big enough a pool. This implied cause and effect doesn't really stand up to scrutiny at all.

As for CPC - well firm but fair. I've had more than one motion rejected. Rough with the smooth and all that. Unless the motion iis an emergency one, they are all treated the same and the same rules applied.

Paul Bailey said...

It doesn't matter which CAMRA spokesman is right Peter, this story is now out in the public domain, and is a major embarrassment for the Campaign. This is irrespective of whether CAMRA’s convoluted, internal procedures were followed or not.

The press certainly won't be bothered by the latter point, and will push the line that by offering incentives to its members, in the form of subsidised beer vouchers, CAMRA is throwing its weight behind a handful of large pub chains.

The fact that some highly respected independent brewers have urged the Campaign to rethink this policy, should be ringing alarm bells in St Albans, so it will be interesting to see what spin the organisation's top brass try and put on it.

john lamb said...

The promotion of discounts increases the public perception that cask conditioned beer is a cheap product which needs to be sold at cheap prices. Wastage when serving cask beer increases overheads and makes it a less attractive product to sell when compared with other draught beer,this unattractiveness is increased by the public perception,fuelled by discount vouchers,that cask beer needs to be sold cheaply,however good the product is. In addition the large tenanted pub chains which participate in the discount schemes may pass on the financial burden to their tenants thereby further reducing the tenants' profit margins. CAMRA has,for many years,done cask beer more harm than good with its voucher schemes. It is pleasing to see that some of its members have woken up to this,albeit that the organisation is doing its best to censor debate.

Anna Buckley said...

We must make sure to attentively read blog posts. After finishing it, I think this post is quite fantastic. This article explains How To Boost Valorant FPS On Laptops & PC. This article explains how to increase the frame rate of valorant on laptops or PCs. Read the article for more information if you're interested.