CARLING, part of the US-based Coors group, is to wage a full-scale war on Scottish & Newcastle and Belhaven with the launch of a new beer and a multimillion-pound marketing push north of the Border.
It will spend £7m on launching a new dark beer, Maclachlan's, as it moves to outgun John Smith's and Belhaven Best.
Carling's Scottish chief Paul Miller said: "We are looking to roll out the brand this summer and get a substantial foothold in the
Scottish market by the end of the year.
"We are very excited as there are not many new ale brands on the market. The only area that is showing significant growth within the dark beer market is ales, and we believe Maclachlan's will take on John Smith's and Belhaven."
The launch is part of a wider strategy by Miller to bolster his portfolio in Scotland. As well as Maclachlan's, it is introducing a wheat version of Grolsch lager and a lighter 'lunchtime' beer called C2 that has just 2% alcohol.
Sales of Belhaven Best, the market leader in Scotland, have risen 15% in the last year to more than 30 million pints. John Smith's has a wider share of the UK market, selling more than one million pints a day.
Carling's push into Scotland will inject much-needed competition into a Scottish market that is dominated by Interbrew, which owns Tennent's, and Scottish & Newcastle, whose UK beers include McEwan's, Foster's and Kronenbourg.
The latest moves come on the anniversary of Carling entering the Scottish market four years ago when it signed a deal as Old Firm shirt sponsor. From zero distribution in the Scottish market, the brand has grown at an exceptional rate, averaging over 200% growth year-on-year.
Drinkers in Scotland are now consuming more than half a million pints of Carling every week.
As well as the Old Firm sponsorship, the Carling Academy, a music venue in Glasgow, has also driven brand awareness, said Miller.
Coors Brewers acquired Carling, Grolsch, Caffreys and Worthington from Interbrew in 2001. The £1bn deal pitched the company against former Bass stablemate and market leader Tennent's in Scotland.
While it is outsold in Scotland, Carling is the biggest lager brand in Britain, selling five million barrels a year, or twice the total Scottish beer market. The latest figures from Mintel show that the total UK lager market is worth an estimated £11.3bn.
