Hillstown Brewery wins first major GB business

The brewery is now shipping its full range of craft beers and ales to Cotswold Fayre in Reading, a leading speciality food and drink wholesaler, supplying independent retailers, farm shops and delis across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The contract, the brewery’s first significant business in Britain, follows participation by the farm-based micro-brewery with the council and Food NI at the big Speciality and Fine Food Show at Olympia in London last December.

“Taking part with the council and Food NI at Speciality Food enabled us to meet and showcase our range of beers to the wholesaler,” said founder and MD Nigel Logan.

“We had tried contacting them directly by email before without success in the past in a bid to persuade them to sample our beers. Participation at Speciality Food opened the door for us. “Speciality Food is the UK’s biggest show for artisan and smaller food companies, and we decided to avail of support from the council in conjunction with Food NI to attend the show in the hope that we would meet key buyers from wholesalers such as Cotswold Fayre. I greatly appreciate the encouragement and practical support we are receiving from the council to grow our brewing business.

“We had been looking for an opportunity to break into the British market. So, taking part at Speciality Food was an extremely worthwhile experience. It proved to be the way to meet buyers face-to-face and to invite them to sample our beers,” he adds.

“The buyer enjoyed the beers and was attracted by Hillstown’s unique and eye-catching branding.”

The company has won two gold stars and a little notoriety for beers such as Horny Bull Stout, Spitting Llama and Goat’s Butt.

“Cotswold Fayre includes a large number of farm shops among its clients and reckoned that our beers like our award-winning Goat’s Butt wheat and hybrid beer, a two-star Great Taste winner, Horny Bull Stout and Squealing Pig IPA would appeal to farm shop customers in particular.”

Food NI CEO Michele Shirlow said: “We are thrilled by Hillstown Brewery’s latest success following the company’s participation in the council’s initiative in conjunction with us at Speciality Food. Creating opportunities for our companies to meet buyers in Britain is an important aspect in the range of services we provide for the local food and drink industry.