Corona Set to Shine with Tennent’s NI

Whatever the weather, the outlook could hardly be sunnier for Tennent’s NI as Northern Ireland’s Number One packaged beer supplier and Number One cider supplier to the licensed trade^* starts the New Year with a high profile addition to its burgeoning beers and ciders portfolio.

The company has closed the deal to distribute packaged Corona Extra to both the on and off trade since last month (January).  The arrival of the global brand is an important new addition, as Brian Beattie, Marketing Director with Tennent’s NI explains.

“Corona is, famously, the leading ‘Sunshine Beer’, dominating that category around the world and with a fantastic track record in the UKand Ireland.  This great, fresh and distinctively flavoured beer has a uniquely engaging brand personality that will complement and add a new dimension to our wide portfolio of big brand beers and ciders.  Securing it for Tennent’s NI gives us a brilliant start to 2015 and reinforces still further our reputation for innovation coupled with quality creating a great partner for Tennent’s our leading beer brand.”

Brewed in Mexico since 1929, with 5.4% abv, Corona Extra is a Pilsner Lager, made with the finest quality blend of filtered water, malted barley, hops, corn and yeast, balanced to deliver a smooth taste, perfectly suited to easy Summer drinking.  It has an unmistakable bright gold colour and its connection with the famous ‘Lime Ritual’ gives it fabulous memorability.

The statistics speak volumes about the positioning of Corona and its ongoing potential.  It is the fourth best selling beer in the world, ranks number two in the UK On Trade, and one in two of all ‘Light Sunshine’ Beers is Corona.  In the UK it is bigger than all of these ‘Light Sunshine’ Beers combined – Sol, San Miguel, San Miguel Fresca, Estrella. Given that commercial pedigree, it is not entirely surprising that Corona also ranks fifth in the BrandZ^® Top 10 Most Valuable Beer Brands.

Brian Beattie says, “With Corona Tennent’s NI now manages four Brands in the BrandZ^® Top Ten: Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, and Brahma. That says much about our commitment to quality and bringing class to the glass.  However we are now very firmly focused on how we can maximise the potential within our local marketplace and we are laying down ambitious plans to drive sales, ensuring that the trade benefits from Corona’s proven capacity to bring more cash to the till.”

Those plans will start with a high profile consumer launch scheduled for April, followed by heavyweight marketing investment over the Summer months when the brand is traditionally at its strongest.

“Working closely with our customers and listening to them has been a big part of how we’ve built the strong, world-class portfolio of quality products we have today. Our creativity stems from gaining accurate customer and consumer insights and maximising all resources available. Innovation is also, of course, key to maintaining our competitive edge and Tennent’s NI is well known for its capacity to bring new and relevant products to market,” adds Brian.

The evidence of that innovation lies in Tennent’s NI’s new product launches, and this latest success follows hard on the heels of a year which has already seen the successful launch of a range of new beers and ciders, including most recently the Italian lager, Menabrea, and the American cider, Woodchuck, and the Italian cider, Montano.  However the company’s shining star of 2014 is Clonmel 1650, the fresh new Irish lager, which is shaping up to follow in Heverlee’s footsteps with a great uptake within its first year of introduction.

Brian adds, “Corona is giving us a brilliant start to the New Year and we’re looking forward to nurturing the potential of this world-leading brand, to the benefit of all our customers.  The future has never seemed brighter!”