Where’s the up in trading up?

Trading up is in the eye of the beholder.

(What’s trading up? More on that at the bottom.)

SABMiller’s CEO this week told the press that emerging markets are the key to continued growth as consumers there trade up to higher value brands and increase overall beer consumption as an “aspirational” alternative. The report:

In a presentation to the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference, SABMiller Chief Executive Graham Mackay said his company’s “broad exposure to the global beer industry will underpin future growth.”

He said there is “far greater” opportunity in the developing world as consumers trade up from lower quality, cheap beer, into modernized mainstream products and then on into what it refers to as “worthmore” brands.

Consumers are also moving into beer as an “aspirational mainstream alternative to cheap spirits, or other types of local indigenous alcohol,” Mackay said.

The problem that Miller and other industrial brewers have in the United States is that consumers are trading up from their products rather than to their beers.

That’s one of the reasons behind various efforts to improve beer’s image that Anheuser-Busch entusiastically supports (and Miller doesn’t put money behind).

The notion of trading up received considerable attention two years ago, from Fast Company to Business Week after publication of “Trading Up: The New American Luxury” by Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske.

One of the premises of “Trading Up” is that consumer spending is polarizing. In order to trade up in a category she really cares about, an avid cyclists might save money by trading down in some that don’t matter to her — like her brand of toothpaste or beer. That’s why Costco is the No. 1 wine vendor in the country – we’re not talking the stuff that comes in jugs – while also selling generic paper towels in bulk.

Trading up isn’t about simply moving from beer that costs $2.99 a six-pack to $7.99 craft beer.

“The competition includes all mood elevators,” Silverstein said. “Quality vodka substitutes for better beer more than it does for Bud. The beer companies need to deliver innovation on taste, nutrition, health, energy, and celebration.”

So if you can’t compete with [fill in the name of your favorite small-batch brewer] then I guess to find a Third World brewer you can compete with . . . for now.

Pig out: Still more beer and cheese

Another story about pairing beer and cheese, this time from Vermont.

In this one, Greg Noonan of Vermont Pub & Brewery (only two years from its 20th anniversary – just in case you want to make travel plans now), picks seven of his beers to match with the cheeses.

“Cheeses and beers tend to have fruity flavors that are good matches,” Noonan said. “They both have some amount of sweetness. And the maltiness and caramel flavors of beer complement the dairy flavors of cheese.”

You’ll wish you were there for this. Sally Pollak writes:

The cheese, Constant Bliss, was made at Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro. Its beer mate, Burly Irish Ale, was made on the premises in the basement brewery.

Constant Bliss is a semi-soft, bloomy-rind cheese — its rind made from the blooms of diverse molds. It is formed into a high mound that brings to mind Barr Hill, a gentle rise in the cheesemakers’ hometown. Constant Bliss, a raw-milk cheese, has a subtle but rich flavor, with a touch of sweetness. It goes down easy and leaves you licking your fingers, wanting more.

Matching it with an Irish ale was a “no-brainer,” Noonan said. Made from milk produced by Jasper Hill’s Ayrshires, Constant Bliss is named for a revolutionary war scout. The latter-day cheese saint met his death on a Greensboro road in 1781, killed by American Indians.

Beer and cheese pairings

The Dayton Daily News really should let Jim Witmer – otherwise works as a staff photographer – write about beer more often. He follows up on the New Scientist report that wine are a less than perfect match with a terrific list of beer and cheese pairings.

A few suggestions:

  • Goat cheese with a Belgian Saison such as Dupont.
  • Havarti Light with Bud Light, Miller Light.
  • Triple Cream Brie with Lion Stout.
  • Stilton with barley wines such as Sierra Nevada Big Foot, J.W. Lee’s, Victory Old Horizontal.

Make yourself a copy of the whole list.

Local beer for local people

Britain’s Society of Independent Brewers Association (SIBA) says beer sales by of member companies are projected to show a 15% rise over the last year.

Why have the independents been able to buck the trend?

“It’s all about local beer for local people. There is a definite demand for cask beer if the right opportunities are presented to licensees,” said SIBA chairman Keith Bott.

The story from the Morning Advertiser doesn’t discuss if a CAMRA campaign launched two years ago – Local Beer for Local Pubs – has had an impact, but doesn’t it make sense that people like to drink a local beer?

Another example of why it sometimes makes a difference where a beer is from, and it also matters where it is enjoyed.

Wimpy Midwest beers?

It would appear that this column with the headline “Yo, Johnny Budweiser: You can’t handle our bold microbrews” disrespects Midwest beers.

If sports rivalries are about more than just the teams, then Seattle vs. Pittsburgh in Detroit is also about the sometimes preposterously Epicurean Pacific Northwest vs. meat-and-potatoes land. The culture clash beneath this Super Bowl extends to Chad Microbrew vs. Joe Sixpack. Since beer is an indisputable part of football (Pyramid Alehouses report five times the normal business in their beer gardens during the two weeks of playoffs), it makes sense to check out our liquid lineup.

Here’s the premise:

There’s a reason for the bitterness in this rivalry, according to Shannon Borg, a writer for Northwest Palate and other food-and-drink publications: “Northwest brewers have basically learned from each other and have developed the ‘Northwest style’ of beer — not German, not English. Those beers are definitely more wimpy. Northwest style is very hoppy, and I think there’s a testosterone thing going on — they try to out-hop each other.”

Somebody needs to send this guy some beer from Three Floyds or Bell’s. (And, for you Midwest hopheads, those are but two examples.)