Caffreys ale is bound for US
Published 28/04/1999 | 00:11
BASS has linked up with rival Guinness to sell its Caffreys cream ale in the US. The Guinness Import Company of New York has signed a new agreement with Bass Beers Worldwide, to import the ale across the Atlantic.The agreement comes on the back of a long-standing arrangement for distributing Bass, the most popular export ale among US drinkers who down 300,000 barrels of it per year.
A Bass spokesman did not quantify the terms of the Caffreys deal but said it would be ``very lucrative'' for Guinness. Already Bass has spent $5m (£3.71m) promoting Caffreys but ``significantly more than that'' is budgeted over the next few years.
Yet Bass insists its spending represents a substantial sum in the import beer market and it aims to boost sales to 30,000 or 40,000 barrels a year.
Ironically, Caffreys and Kilkenny Guinness's own cream ale have been involved in a sometimes acrimonious competitive battle for drinkers in Ireland and the UK.
There are no plans to launch Kilkenny in the US.
