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15-08-2023, 07:05
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/08/uk-beer-exports-in-1970s-part-one.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG08TeTp7R-T7djrvdFHFkoy_3Ure1KLGdG0uw2PAoRgcUCulASsUbTDGmCOB 0WX1WeaEy-wYF9UPqmp5WuaJzSdaGHz0XRoAINmSIlEYBUP5QSZ6t1KYpKTO 0HyXf7phpKRZpI9bEzPH8666olZF4RbF0EmZgRC7Juw6hc_wHO k6BF5_KTW-TF064RNg/s320/Whitbread_Extra_Stout_beermat.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG08TeTp7R-T7djrvdFHFkoy_3Ure1KLGdG0uw2PAoRgcUCulASsUbTDGmCOB 0WX1WeaEy-wYF9UPqmp5WuaJzSdaGHz0XRoAINmSIlEYBUP5QSZ6t1KYpKTO 0HyXf7phpKRZpI9bEzPH8666olZF4RbF0EmZgRC7Juw6hc_wHO k6BF5_KTW-TF064RNg/s375/Whitbread_Extra_Stout_beermat.jpg)
As you can probably tell, I'm still busy with my book on the 1970s. It's coming along very nicely. Currently, I'm at 35,000 words and 115 pages. Most of the bare bones are there. I mostly just need to flesh it out with memories of the period.This is the section on beer exports.
The UK had always exported a fair amount of beer. Not a huge amount. In the decades before WW II, that was around half a million barrels a year. Exports were only around half that after war. Only increasing in the 1960s. A trend which continued in the first half of the 1970s.
First let’s take a look on how those exports broke down by continent.
The peak was reached in 1977, after which they began to fall away again. Despite increasing volumes being shipped to the USA.
The biggest single market for UK exports was Europe. Throughout this period, they accounted for around 60% of UK exports. Second largest destination of UK beer was North America, which took between 20% and 27% of exports.
I would love to know exactly which beers were being sent to North America. Quite a lot of Bass, I suspect. But what about the rest? The 1970s was when brewers like Sam Smith and Fullers were sending lots of beer over the Atlantic. Could those two brewers have really been shipping tens of thousands of barrels?
The figures for exports to the EEC look quite impressive. Until you realise that around half of the 200,000-odd barrels had just one destination: Belgium. You' see more about that in part two.
UK beer exports 1971 - 1975
Continent
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
Republic of Ireland
10,219
14,466
15,140
14,766
6,478
Rest of EEC
208,088
229,820
245,990
259,843
292,899
Other
35,038
28,372
27,514
28,483
24,993
Total Europe
253,345
272,658
288,644
303,092
324,370
Africa
29,411
12,344
12,276
17,932
88,489
N. America
119,421
113,095
107,465
87,347
87,937
S. America
2,805
2,725
2,142
2,316
3,410
Asia
39,736
28,765
39,138
32,330
32,218
Australasia
951
1,286
1,124
1,002
1,468
Total
445,669
430,873
450,789
444,019
537,892
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 17.
UK beer exports 1976 - 1980
Continent
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
Republic of Ireland
9,819
14,828
10,850
9,849
19,588
Rest of EEC
278,654
258,528
265,274
272,659
244,455
Other
20,526
21,660
18,422
23,569
16,099
Total Europe
308,999
295,016
294,546
306,077
280,142
Africa
78,397
93,694
16,189
7,822
8,081
N. America
92,564
93,127
107,673
123,421
127,685
S. America
3,917
4,722
6,731
5,414
5,965
Asia
38,631
41,083
64,358
35,205
36,010
Australasia
1,418
992
882
738
667
Total
523,926
528,634
490,379
478,677
458,550
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 17.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/08/uk-beer-exports-in-1970s-part-one.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG08TeTp7R-T7djrvdFHFkoy_3Ure1KLGdG0uw2PAoRgcUCulASsUbTDGmCOB 0WX1WeaEy-wYF9UPqmp5WuaJzSdaGHz0XRoAINmSIlEYBUP5QSZ6t1KYpKTO 0HyXf7phpKRZpI9bEzPH8666olZF4RbF0EmZgRC7Juw6hc_wHO k6BF5_KTW-TF064RNg/s320/Whitbread_Extra_Stout_beermat.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG08TeTp7R-T7djrvdFHFkoy_3Ure1KLGdG0uw2PAoRgcUCulASsUbTDGmCOB 0WX1WeaEy-wYF9UPqmp5WuaJzSdaGHz0XRoAINmSIlEYBUP5QSZ6t1KYpKTO 0HyXf7phpKRZpI9bEzPH8666olZF4RbF0EmZgRC7Juw6hc_wHO k6BF5_KTW-TF064RNg/s375/Whitbread_Extra_Stout_beermat.jpg)
As you can probably tell, I'm still busy with my book on the 1970s. It's coming along very nicely. Currently, I'm at 35,000 words and 115 pages. Most of the bare bones are there. I mostly just need to flesh it out with memories of the period.This is the section on beer exports.
The UK had always exported a fair amount of beer. Not a huge amount. In the decades before WW II, that was around half a million barrels a year. Exports were only around half that after war. Only increasing in the 1960s. A trend which continued in the first half of the 1970s.
First let’s take a look on how those exports broke down by continent.
The peak was reached in 1977, after which they began to fall away again. Despite increasing volumes being shipped to the USA.
The biggest single market for UK exports was Europe. Throughout this period, they accounted for around 60% of UK exports. Second largest destination of UK beer was North America, which took between 20% and 27% of exports.
I would love to know exactly which beers were being sent to North America. Quite a lot of Bass, I suspect. But what about the rest? The 1970s was when brewers like Sam Smith and Fullers were sending lots of beer over the Atlantic. Could those two brewers have really been shipping tens of thousands of barrels?
The figures for exports to the EEC look quite impressive. Until you realise that around half of the 200,000-odd barrels had just one destination: Belgium. You' see more about that in part two.
UK beer exports 1971 - 1975
Continent
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
Republic of Ireland
10,219
14,466
15,140
14,766
6,478
Rest of EEC
208,088
229,820
245,990
259,843
292,899
Other
35,038
28,372
27,514
28,483
24,993
Total Europe
253,345
272,658
288,644
303,092
324,370
Africa
29,411
12,344
12,276
17,932
88,489
N. America
119,421
113,095
107,465
87,347
87,937
S. America
2,805
2,725
2,142
2,316
3,410
Asia
39,736
28,765
39,138
32,330
32,218
Australasia
951
1,286
1,124
1,002
1,468
Total
445,669
430,873
450,789
444,019
537,892
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 17.
UK beer exports 1976 - 1980
Continent
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
Republic of Ireland
9,819
14,828
10,850
9,849
19,588
Rest of EEC
278,654
258,528
265,274
272,659
244,455
Other
20,526
21,660
18,422
23,569
16,099
Total Europe
308,999
295,016
294,546
306,077
280,142
Africa
78,397
93,694
16,189
7,822
8,081
N. America
92,564
93,127
107,673
123,421
127,685
S. America
3,917
4,722
6,731
5,414
5,965
Asia
38,631
41,083
64,358
35,205
36,010
Australasia
1,418
992
882
738
667
Total
523,926
528,634
490,379
478,677
458,550
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 17.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2023/08/uk-beer-exports-in-1970s-part-one.html)