Spain & UK: Spanish beer chief slams ‘dishonest’ UK brewers amid Madri boom

The boss of Estrella Galicia has accused British brewers of “dishonesty” for selling beers that appear Spanish but are brewed in the UK, Yahoo Finance reported on June 4.

Aitor de Artaza, international managing director of the Spanish brewer, said a “lack of transparency” among UK beer companies was confusing consumers in pubs and supermarkets alike.

His criticism comes after the recent success of Madrí Excepcional, a lager which markets itself as “the soul of Madrid”.

However, critics point out that Madrí is brewed in Yorkshire by Molson Coors, the same company that owns Doom Bar and Carling.

That is unlike Estrella Galicia, which has brewed beer in the Spanish region of Galicia for more than a century.

Mr de Artaza said: “There is a lack of transparency because they use a big famous city in Spain, but they don’t produce here. This is confusing for the consumer.”

Since its launch in British pubs in 2020, Madrí has quickly become one of the UK’s best-known beers.

Its website claims Madrí lager is made in collaboration with La Sagra, a Spanish brewery also owned by Molson Coors since 2017.

However, the beer itself is only brewed at several sites across the UK, including Tadcaster in Yorkshire.

Mr de Artaza added: “They did a very nice job in terms of marketing, that’s for sure. But it’s a little bit tricky because people think they are drinking a Spanish beer but it’s not. They are not very clear and not, to my point of view, very honest.”

Sales of Madrí have soared since its launch, with Molson Coors claiming that supermarket purchases of the lager recently topped £100m.

This is up from £70.1m recorded in its first full year of operations, as noted by data from industry group NIQ.

Its success stems from growing demand for so-called world lagers, which often have a higher alcohol content than traditional rivals, such as Fosters.

However, while many world lagers market themselves as exotic imports, the majority are brewed in the UK. This includes beers such as Birra Moretti and Corona.

Karen Albert, premium brands director at Molson Coors, said: “Madrí Excepcional was created through a unique collaboration between Molson Coors and La Sagra Brewery, which is based close to Madrid, combining the craft and skill of innovative Spanish brewer Carlos Garcia at La Sagra and our Molson Coors master brewers in the UK.

“Brewing Madrí Excepcional here in the UK enables us to deliver efficiently, quickly respond to demand and, crucially, to make our beers more sustainably.

“Brewing in the UK reduces the miles travelled from brewery to bar or shelf and all our beers in the UK are produced using 100pc renewable electricity through a power purchase agreement.”

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .