Caffreys ale is bound for US
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.
