Leeds Brewery celebrates supermarket giant deal
It's three cheers for micro brewers Sam Moss and Michael Brothwell who have signed a deal with a Leeds supermarket giant to supply it with their bottled beers.
The pair set up the Leeds Brewery in Holbeck just over a year ago.
Now selling in excess of 20,000 pints a week the lads, who are only in their 20s, are growing into a major player among the city's brewers.
Their featured beers Leeds Pale Ale, Leeds Best and Midnight Bell can be found at the pumps of pubs across the north and even down south, including the House of Commons.
They launched their own pub The Midnight Bell in Water Lane, Holbeck, earlier this year and last month their second venue, the trendy Pin wine bar, opened its doors in Dock Street, Hunslet.
Thanks to the deal with Leeds-based Asda, their trio of bottled beers have gone into 20 stores in the lead up to Christmas.
Joint director Sam said: "The really great thing for us as a small brewery is that it is very rare to walk into a 20 store deal.
"Generally someone the size of Asda will try your products out in one store first.
"But our bottles are now in stores in Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, York, Harrogate and Sheffield."
The fledgling firm pitched their bottles to Asda's beer buyer Graeme Cherrie.
But they were told they were too late for this year and would have to wait until after the New Year for a decision, according to Mr Moss.
He said: "Asda's head office is just two minutes up the road from us so I took some samples in.
"They rang back saying we're out of luck as they'd just done their listings for Christmas and we'd have to wait until next Easter.
"Then Graeme rang us back and said there was an opening and could we supply straight away."
Julia Tweedie, Asda's marketing manager for local and ethnic products, said: "Our aim is to cut the number of miles our food and drink travels so it is at its freshest for the customer."
Posted: Friday, October 10, 2008
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